Flames of Final
by Dragons Flown Away
Summary: It has always been strange. Always. And it's no stranger when Nightmare comes back from the dead... or does he? With Meta Knight leading, they must go back and end this. But Meta Knight is in two worlds, fighting a common enemy... himself.
1. Taunts of the Past

So it begins. This is a extremely short beginning chapter. Hope you like it. :) not much else to say...

Disclaimer: Meta Knight, Kirby, Nightmare, and everyone inside this chapter is **not **owned by me, but by Nintendo.

***

_Nightmare has been defeated. You could say that everything is fine now, but the truth is, it's not. Really, we have only taken the very first tiny steps for the demon beasts to be freed from their taint._

_Yes, I do not want the demon beasts to all be killed, that would be cruel. They are just being controlled by a greater power. The thing most of the fools on this planet make the mistake of thinking is that now that Nightmare is dead, the controllers will crumble._

_Well, their wrong. Nightmare may be dead, but that does not mean such a strongly rooted empire will not have a new 'Nightmare' to take his place._

_For now, the worlds are foolishly in peace, but what can I say when I am just one knight? A strongly respected one, yes, but just one, I have decided to protect a hero of this galaxy. _

_He looks a lot like me, for some strange reason I do not know. His name is Kirby, the destroyer of Nightmare. You may think him powerful and wise from his title, but really, he isn't. He is just a baby really, less than two hundred years old!_

_Who am I? I am Kirby's protector and superior when it comes to the GSA ranks; Meta Knight._

* * *

Kirby padded along on the soft grass, still covered in morning dew. He looked up at his aim so far away; Castle Dedede. He looked a lot like a pink ball, except he has two soft eyes that can make anyone think he is innocent, which he is.

He also had two half circles, very short, for arms. His feet were round ovals which made a squeak every time he touched the ground. His eyes wandered away from the gloomy castle and rested upon a butterfly. It was an azure blue and immediately caught his attention.

"Butterfwy!" he cried in his rough understandable language. He chased after it, jumping and squealing in delight. He paused and crossed his eyes as the butterfly landed on his non-existent nose.

He giggled in delight and chased the butterfly in circles as it was still on his non-existent nose.

"Kaabii!" called an all too familiar voice. He was shocked back to the presence as he saw the reason he had been going to the castle.

"…Fumu…" Kirby turned and saw the girl running toward him.

"Kaabii, come, let's go get you some breakfast. Then we can go and play some soccer… if Bun's awake!" She took Kirby's hand and started running off toward the castle. Kirby happily smiled. He had forgotten about breakfast and he was _hungry._

* * *

Meta Knight watched from a dark window. Kirby and Fumu were trotting over to the castle. _Probably for breakfast. _His orb like golden eyes flickered to the courtyard below. His eyes turned an amused pink as he watched Sword and Blade attempt to teach the Waddle Dees how to properly swordfight. _Some things never change._

"META KNIGHT!" A shriek from King Dedede almost startled him. He heard a clatter and a loud crash from a ways off. It sounded like the throne room.

Slowly he got up and wandered down the hallways. He was right; _some things never change._

* * *

"So close, SO CLOSE!" Dedede growled at his companion; Escargon. "Don't make another clumsy move you pea brained IDIOT!" He roared as he swung his hammer at him.

Escargon just barely dodged the blow as he looked at the misbehaving delivery machine. It sputtered and started smoking.

"Uh, your majesty, the deliv-"he started explaining when the hammer smacked him in the face, he fell onto the floor, dazed.

"Your Majesty, you called upon me…?" Meta Knight stepped forward from the slightly opened door.

"Oh, Meta Knight, you know how these things work. Fix it." He stated as Escargon dizzily got up.

"Why do you want to fix it?" He asked, trying to avoid doing it.

"Because I want more Demon Beasts!" He growled angrily.

Meta Knight looked at the Delivery Machine. It, for some strange reason, seemed like it was looking at him. The room around it seemed to fade out. He could swear there was something on it, looking at him.

He shut his eyes for a second and saw blood. Blood everywhere, quickly he opened his eyes to make it go away. Bloody demon beasts were all around him.

_"Why did you abandon us?"_

_"Why did you leave us to die?"_

_"Why did you slay us, Meta Knight?"_

He couldn't hear Dedede commanding him to fix the machine. He was frozen. This had never happened since Nightmare had been alive. They continued asking him, taunting him…

Then three things happened.

Dedede yelled at him.

Meta Knight's eyes turned blood red.

He ran.

***

well thats the first chapter, hope u like it. Its very short so do expect longer ones in the future. Please read + review! :)


	2. Wings of the Azure

So, no one had read it yet so there isn't much to say but I am gunna wait until I get at least one review before continuing Hope someone reads!

Disclaimer: I own nobody in this chapter. They all belong to Nindendo.

***

He ran. Pain like no other blinded him, he was merely a shadow watching his body do things that he himself was not doing. His body ran outside the castle, and to Meta Knight's horror, flashed open majestic, deep azure blue wings.

His wings launched him into the sky, blasting him into the blue depths. Suddenly, he was back within his body and the pain was gone. He floated in the air, dazed. _What in the world had happened? _But he quickly noticed his long-concealed wings stretched out in the sky.

He looked below him. Pupupu Village was directly below him, but he was too high in the air to be seen. He could see black dots swarming the streets like ants. He glided over the nearby watermelon fields and slowly dropped from the sky and folding his wings back up.

Stunned for a moment by what had happened, he started making his way back up to the castle. He was confused but also relieved that no one had seen him.

* * *

Kirby happily trotted side by side with Fumu who hurried him along, he was stuffed from a delicious lunch except that every possible food item was delicious to him so it was nothing new.

"Let's go find Bun." She ran back and grabbed Kirby's stub hand and pulled him away from the azure butterfly he had been watching. "Come on, we gotta hurry before he runs off to who knows where!"

Reluctantly he took control and started running by her side, after one last look at the azure butterfly he had seen twice that day.

"Poyo poy!"

* * *

"Hey, Escargon, what's with Meta Knight?" Asked the dazed king after watching Meta Knight suddenly flee.

"Who knows? But you do know that the Delivery Machine is sorta smoking?" He pointed out, rubbing the bump on his head from Dedede's hammer.

Dedede paused from lifting his hammer for another blow and turned his head slowly around. "Huh?"

"Hmm, maybe Meta Knight sensed impending doom from the Delivery Machine's smoking and ran for his life like we maybe should be doing. That's just a guess of co-"Escargon's sentence was cut off as Dedede ran forward, grabbed Escargon's hand and started running away from the Delivery Machine as if the death hound was after his hide.

* * *

Meta Knight was peacefully walking back to the castle when Dedede and Escargon came running past, breathing heavily. They were almost a blur as they blasted past him. He paused for a moment, adding another confusing act to his list for today.

Suddenly they backpedaled until they were side by side to Meta Knight. King Dedede paused a second before turning to face him, his tongue slightly hanging from his mouth as he panted.

"What are you doing going back to the castle if you thought the Delivery Machine was going to blow up any second?" Dedede questioned accusingly.

"What do you mean, your Majesty?" Meta Knight was even more confused now.

"But… I… you…" He stammered before turning to Escargon, taking out his hammer from seemingly nowhere and gave him a menacing grin.

"Please! I can explain! Don-"He was cut off for the third time this day as Dedede's hammer met his face.

* * *

Kirby and Fumu walked into their room and stopped short. _Where was Bun? _

* * *

Slowly and carefully Bun stepped away from the watermelon field. He had seen Meta Knight flying over and landing here. He had had two glorious deep azure wings and had flown like he was made for it. _What did this mean?_

As Bun ran away intent on telling his sister what he had seen, he passed the innocent azure blue butterfly which watched his every move. It had seen plenty more than it had expected to see.

***

Not much to say except what I said at begining of chapter. Please read + review so I can continue!


	3. The Giant Bat and the Tiny Butterfly

Sooo I have made another :)

Disclaimer: I own nobody. All belongs to Nintendo. Well ok the butterfly is mine but everyone else is Nintend

***

Bun could hardly hold his excitement. He was jumping all over the place as he ran toward the castle. He practically flew through the doors and started scavenging the hallways for any trace of his sister or Kirby.

"Bun?"

Bun practically jumped out of his skin when he heard Meta Knight's voice. He froze and turned around to face him. He was shaking uncontrollably.

"S-Sir M-M-Meta Knight? Oh, uh…" He scratched the back of his head as a bead of sweat formed on his forehead, "J-just looking for uh… Fumu and Kirby! I want to tell them… I have a stalker butterfly!" he practically screamed the last part because it was the first thing that came to his mind.

Meta Knight was automatically suspicious. _Stalker butterfly, eh? _

"And might I ask what color this butterfly was? I could help you with it." He persisted. He knew it was exactly was Bun didn't want.

"Um…" He thought back at the last butterfly he saw and remembered the little azure one he had seen when he was running to the castle. "Blue!" With that he didn't let Meta Knight say anything more and bolted down the hallways leaving a stunned knight behind.

_Blue?_

* * *

Kirby and Fumu were walking quietly down the hallway when she spotted Bun running like hell toward them. He paused in front of them and whispered quickly; "Hurry come; I can't let Meta Knight hear this. This is important."

Startled by his sudden appearance, Fumu didn't say anything but slowly and carefully followed him. Kirby, who didn't want to be left behind, scurried to catch up.

"Poyo poyo wait poyo!"

Bun lead them to the first room he could find. The room was dimly lit and looked a lot like a oversized closet but he quickly shoved everyone inside and shut the door behind them.

"Listen. I know you won't believe me but really, this happened. Ok so I was walking randomly in the village and I looked up, you know it was casual like a 'check what time it is' kinda look and I saw a strange dot in the sky. It wasn't like a bird kinda dot but like a bat. A giant bat! I was so excited! I mean not everyday people can make the discovery of a giant bat!"

"Just get to the point already, Bun, this closet is stuffy."

"Ok, ok, you never let me savor my success. Well so as I was saying I decided to follow it so I could make an awesome discovery! And as it got closer over the watermelon fields I snuck over and spied on it. Trust me sis, it was no giant bat."

"A demon beast?"

"No, even worse. It was Meta Knight with huge azure blue wings! Can you believe it?!"

Fumu rolled her eyes. "Yeah, riiiight.," She paused, "and let me guess, you were being stalked by a purple butterfly."

"No, a blue one."

"Bun, Meta Knight is not a winged demon! You're making it up!" Fumu cried.

"Shhh, someone could hear."

"I don't care! Listen, why in the world did u suddenly beam up an illusion of Meta Knight with wings?!"

Bun was about to continue arguing when the door to the closet was opened. Meta Knight observed them with soft, sad eyes the color of the deep ocean.

"Because it's true."

* * *

"All that damin' nonsense and he doesn't even fix this f***ing machine!" King Dedede almost screamed in rage as he stormed into the throne room to find the Delivery Machine looking burnt, there were bolts scattered on the ground along with a large chunk of metal that was sizzling, a tiny flame flickered on it.

"Well, he was sorta freaked the last time he walked into here and saw the machine. Maybe you should just leave the poor guy alo-"He was cut off again as Escargon was forced to dodge another hammer blow.

"I…" He swung again and missed. "Don't…" He tried again and managed to trip the snail. "CARE!" He roared as he pummeled Escargon's head with hammer blows.

"Figures…" The poor beaten up snail mumbled.

Sword and Blade walked into the room, questioning the destroyed delivery machine.

"Sword, Blade. Your boss is being freaked out by this thing so I want you to do it for him. Fix it." Dedede growled.

The small, innocent little azure butterfly fluttered its wings before taking off and swooping down over the king's head. It then flew out the giant door that was slowly shutting after Sword and Blade had walked forward to examine the machine.

Skimming the corner, it flashed past a crowd of Waddle Dees who were hurrying to finish their work mopping the floor. It makes a small spin as it continued flying, for the mere fun of it. It then perched upon the top of a particular closet door and peered below at the unusual scene going on below. He heard the masked knight say three words sadly.

The butterfly watched the knight carefully. It scanned his cape quickly, but his doings were interrupted by a girlish scream from the boy in the closet;

"STALKER BUTTERFLY!"

***

Sorry about the stalker butterfly thing I just couldn't resist, and yeah the butterfly will come up alot.

I am proud of myself for making 2 chapters in a day :) Read + Review please!


	4. Taint of the Masked Knight

So I got another chapter up, I didn't goof around as much with the butterfly but it will come up more.

Disclaimer: I own no one in this chapter except the azure butterfly.

***

Fumu felt the air leave her in a startling gasp. She took a step back from Meta Knight whose eyes were so deep and sad that she couldn't meet them any longer and moved her eyes to focus on the floor. That was when Bun made his remark.

"STALKER BUTTERFLY!"

At first, I had no idea what he was talking about. Then I saw a small, about a quarter the size of my hand, butterfly on the top of the door. It was a startling azure color. Fumu could swear it looked at her before it turned around and dropped off the side of the door. When she turned her gaze back to Meta Knight, she noticed he looked extremely startled and she promised she heard him say something under his breath before he turned and walked away.

"Sis, I promise that butterfly is following me." Bun mumbled, but Fumu had her mind on other things. Meta Knight… had wings?!

She couldn't picture Meta Knight with wings so she couldn't put anything together. She had seen him for years with nothing sprouting from his back, she just couldn't see it and finding out what it meant was out of the question until she did.

But right now, she wanted to leave the smelly closet.

* * *

"Sword, Blade, hurry up." King Dedede tapped his foot impatiently.

"Yes, your majesty."

"Yes, sir."

The Delivery Machine already looked in better shape. It wasn't deformed, for one. He looked it over with satisfaction. Meta Knight's reaction to it had slipped his mind, washed away down a sparkling, crystal clear river.

Meta Knight remembered. He saw the demon beasts. He saw the shining red blood. He felt the wind, he felt his back muscles in use after so long, stiff from being folded under his cape. He alone knew what it meant. He alone knew he must hide, hide or let it take him. But there was a little something that wasn't going to let him hide. A little something about the size of a quarter of Fumu's hand.

* * *

Through the commotion, nobody had noticed a small round pink ball slip out of the closet to chase a small azure butterfly. He giggled when it fluttered away. It landed on the top of the kitchen door. Kirby happily took a huge breath, inflated, and lifted from his feet to continue the chase. The butterfly had not been aware of Kirby's ability to fly and annoyingly glided away.

It searched the halls for the masked knight it had let out of its sight for a few seconds. The knight was nowhere in sight. Kirby, on the other hand, had snuck right up behind the butterfly and eyed it carefully. He lifted a foot and placed in on the floor as quietly as he could to sneak just a tiny bit farther and… his foot squeaked.

The azure butterfly fluttered innocently away as if nothing had happened. Kirby sat down and looked after the butterfly dejectedly. His eyes shined watery.

* * *

He stood at the window and looked out. The moon glittered in the night sky. His wings were folded at his sides, but exposed. He looked down at them. He had been cursed by these demon wings. So majestic and beautiful they were, a deep and lovely azure color, but they showed what he truly was. His mind wandered away from his wings and back to the disturbing memory.

He remembered them from so long ago, but he had only had them when Nightmare was near. So, Nightmare had returned. He knew it would happen eventually. He had just hoped it wouldn't happen so soon. But the memories were something else other than a warning that Nightmare was close. They were a part of him, wanting to bloom. He knew he wouldn't be able to fight it back for much longer; he had lost control for a bit earlier.

The need was ever powering. The beast inside him roared. He had held it back for thousands of years, and now it was growing stronger. Perhaps it was a final, desperate strike from Nightmare, or perhaps it was just the beginning. He shut his eyes and he saw blood. Everywhere. Terror inched into his body. _No… mustn't… loose… control…_

He opened his eyes. If any could see him from outside, they would see a creature on the window. Two giant black bat wings at its side, and two blood red eyes glowing in the darkness. _I'm… Sorry…_

* * *

Fumu lay in bed; she had a dim light at her side. A book was open in her hands. It always seemed to help her think when she had a book between her fingers. But this was not just to help her think, she had taken this book from the library to do some research. Although Meta Knight himself had said he had wings, she still couldn't see it.

The book she had taken was called; _Demon Beasts: Volume 3; Winged Terrors. _Not that she thought Meta Knight was a demon, there just was a possibility. She slowly flipped through the pages. Her eyes trailed on every one, but none were anything to look like Meta Knight. She couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. She closed the book and placed it on her bed side table. She looked at her watch on the small table and clicked off the lamp. She had one last thought before she fell asleep;

_What if Meta Knight is an extremely special demon and Nightmare doesn't want anyone to know… could he be after Kirby?_

* * *

"Finally! You take forever with these things." Dedede grumbled as Sword and Blade took their leave, the machine had stopped smoking and looked much better.

"We'll take our leave now." Sword called back over her shoulder as she and Blade slipped through the large doors.

"Where do you think our lord will be now? We must ask him if it was ok to fix the Delivery Machine. Did you hear what he had said before about our lord being freaked by it?" Blade whispered to Sword as they stood and looked around for a possible hint on where he could be.

"Uh, maybe on that window thing. You know up by the ramparts."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go."

Together the knights-to-be ran up the long stairs and up to the window which their lord would frequently look out of. They were startled by him actually being there, and even more startled by other things. He was looking right at them with two blood red eyes; they had seen his eyes red very few times before.

Even more startling, two giant azure wings were slightly open at his sides. He looked straight at the two frightened knights.

"No… Sword… Blade… run…" His eyes flashed golden as he managed speak and the two knights were more than ready to obey.

They crashed down the stairs, scrambling like frightened ducks. When they burst out of the stairs, they fell on the floor, breathing heavily. But not for long. Out of the corner of their eyes they spotted Meta Knight with blood red eyes watching them, he was gliding down the stairs.

They got to their feet and hurriedly ran down the halls, their lord hot at their heels, wings beating slowly as if savoring the chase. There was the sound of sword against metal as Meta Knight drew the Sacred Sword Galaxia. Sword and Blade gasped, confused and frightened, while Meta Knight slashed Sword, causing her to trip and fall.

"Sword!" Blade screamed as he skittered to a stop and turned around to see Meta Knight hovering above Sword, eyes flashing a mix of Gold and Red, slurred together in places. It was actually pretty cool even though the situation they were in was in dire need.

"Meta Knight, please! What's happening? Snap out of it!" Blade cried out, desperate. Blade watched as his lord shut his eyes, completely darkening the space in his mask. Time seemed to freeze for a moment there. Sword, shivering in fright, Blade, desperately trying to snap his lord out of the taint, and Meta Knight, Galaxia drawn and fighting a war within himself.

Then with one powerful movement that seemed to send sparks flying, Meta Knight opened his eyes.

They were red.

***

Cliffhanger! Well the next chapter will be up probably before anyone comes to reading this chapter so it can't be _that _bad.


	5. Blood, Pain, and Wrath

**Warning: ****Violent Chapter **

This is my attempt at battle scenes. I would be thankful if reviews would tell me how I did. If you don't like violence you might not like this chapter.

Disclaimer: /sigh I own nobody in this chapter except the butterfly/lizard/shadow. (Can't wait till the name comes up so I don't have to do all that!)

***

Meta Knight raised Galaxia, about to kill his always loyal servant. The sword, crackling unearthly shadow energy, seemingly transformed from Meta Knight's tainted form. It smiled evilly at Sword who starred in horror, shaking so hard she couldn't reach for her sword to block the attack that was about to take her life.

Meta Knight was suddenly hurtled across the hallway, smashing into the wall. He sank to the ground, one wing bent in an odd angle. Sword gasped in confusion and looked up to see her savior. Her heart sank to the floor when she saw it was Dedede with his hammer out, looking like the world had just collapsed upon his castle.

Meta Knight's mask had gone dark, but suddenly two glowing red eyes burned. He lifted to his feet; blood slithered down his left wing which hung limply to the side. The tainted Meta Knight glanced at his wing before turning in one jerk, his wing bashed against the wall and with a sickly crack it snapped back into position. Then he turned back to the armed king.

"Sword, Blade, at my side!" The penguin squeaked. The knights hesitated, not sure if they should help the king defeat their lord, but came to his side in the end. They knew that the being before them was not their lord but a tainted demon. They had a feeling that they just needed to weaken the taint for their lord to come back.

Giving an unearthly hellish screech, Meta Knight, no, the demon, blasted forward at the surprised king, Galaxia held forward in a charge. The king was caught off guard but flung his hammer in front of him to block the blow. Wood met metal, and with a whimper from the king, the hammer split in two.

Duel wielding the handle of the hammer and a piece of the handle with the club, he took a step backward. The demon in Meta Knight's body lashed forward, but the attack was countered by the two knights. Taking the struggle to his advantage, the king smashed the demon with his club, sending the knight sliding to smash against the wall, and with one last hellish scream, it fell into unconsciousness.

"WHAT was THAT?!" King Dedede roared, turning on the two knights.

"I-I dunno, sir!" Stuttered Blade.

Sword just stood there, still shaking slightly.

* * *

Meta Knight opened his eyes, which glowed a faint gold. He felt drained. _What in the world just happened? _He got up, off his bed. One wing, he noticed, was wrapped in a kind of bandage. The bandage was splotched with red. _Serious bleeding._

He looked up and around the room. No one was anywhere he could see. But there was one thing. A small azure butterfly. It leaped from the table it had been on; it opened its wings and suddenly froze, hovering in the air. It seemed to remember something. Then, as sudden as anything, it fell from the air and landed with a thump on the ground, dead. A shadow leaked from the butterfly. (No, not dark matter, this is an OC.)

It coiled like writhing snakes, spreading out on the ground before coming together to form a flesh and blood being. This time, it took the form of a small, cold blooded lizard. Carefully, it followed the masked knight.

Sword and Blade rushed toward Meta Knight.

"Sir!"

"Sir!"

"Yes? What troubles you?" Meta Knight turned toward them, not even trying to fold the bloody wing.

"S-sir? You d-don't remember what happened, d-do you?" Sword stammered.

Meta Knight just stared at them blankly.

"Y-you tried to kill Sword!" Blade blurted out involuntarily.

"What?!" Meta Knight took a step back as if being able to just move away from the truth.

"Y-you have wings!" Sword pointed out stupidly, as if Meta Knight would not know himself.

"What happened?" Meta Knight would not take the bait to change the subject.

"Well… we wanted to tell you that we had finished fixing the Delivery Machine wh-" Blade started obediently, when Meta Knight cut him off;

"You fixed the Delivery Machine?!" Meta Knight sighed, "You know that's like creating a portal for Nightmare to send demon beasts through to ambush us? We must destroy it right now!"

"So you don't want me to finish the story?" Blade persisted, unaware of the danger.

"Later!" Meta Knight almost snapped at him. The three knights hurried down the hallway, toward the throne room.

* * *

"WHAT?!" Fumu cried out, sitting up automatically in bed. Bun was panting in front of her, stuttering the news which sounded like a fairy tale faster than she could bear. But what she could bare was enough.

"I said, Meta Knight went _[pant]_ crazy! _[pant]_ And he _[pant]_ attempted _[pant]_ to _[pant]_ kill _[pant]_ Sword!" Bun cried out between giant breaths.

Fumu bolted out of her bed, shoved Bun out the door, slammed it, got dressed, opened it, grabbed his hand, and set off to question the knight.

* * *

All throughout the castle, they heard the huge crash. It came from the throne room. Fumu and Bun stumbled to the door and swung it open. The sight inside made her double over, choking from smoke and ash, along with fear.

Meta Knight, Sword, and Blade were being circled by _three _demons that looked like the demon that had attacked the castle so long ago; Chilidog. Sword and Blade tried as hard as they could to defend their injured lord, who had one wing bandaged and bloody hanging loosely at his side. Fumu gasped. He _did _have wings. But her surprised was quickly blotted out with more fear as she saw the Meta Knight looked like he had been smashed with hammers, bruised and harmed. But even in his broken state he stood boldly against the demon beasts.

Fumu cried out in vain as the Chilidogs swiped Sword and Blade away like they were flees, not good enough for their attention, and turned toward the injured knight. Holding Galaxia out in front of him, he kept turning, not wanting to let the hounds face his back. One struck out and he countered it. Another joined the assaults. Meta Knight took a step back; rapidly blocking the strikes which were so strong each he slid back every time.

One of the hounds had sneaked behind him. Eyes locked on the injured wing. It leaped forward while the knight was occupied and its jaws closed on his wing, tearing and rending the flesh. Fumu screamed, turning away in fear. While Meta Knight gasped, wincing in pain as the hound tore back and forth. He lashed one more time at the two hounds in front of him, stunning them with his strengths momentarily, and he flung himself around, sinking Galaxia into the dog's soft nose.

It howled in anger and pain, rearing, pawing its bloody nose. It retreated. The other two recovered and advanced on the knight. But Meta Knight was weakened from loss of blood. His wing torn and tattered he knew would heal, but right now the blood was pooling, and fast. He stumbled to the side and collapsed, falling unconscious.

The third hound pawed its nose which was bloody; the slash had sunk deep and cut down its head fully. From the middle of the jewel on its head to the bottom of its nose it bled. Suddenly, with a howl of pure pain, the jewel cracked, crackling and then it shattered. Shards flew in all directions. Fumu grabbed Bun and jumped behind a near bye pillar. When she sneaked back out she saw the room was covered in small shards. She shivered.

But that was the least of her worries. The two remaining hounds turned away from the unconscious knight who lay in a pool of his own blood, laughing to each other will lolling tongues and agreeing to leave the knight to die a slow death. Instead, they turned to face Fumu and Bun. Sword and Blade, weakly pinned down by the crystal shards, forced themselves up. At the sight of their torn lord they gasped in painful sadness, which twisted into uncontrollable rage.

"Fumu, now! Call the warpstar! Kirby will understand we are in danger and come!" Sword gasped before gripping her sword and charging with Blade into the hound's midsts.

* * *

Kirby was pouting on the floor of the castle when he caught the smell of smoke, it curled into the hallway and made him perk up immediately.

"Poyo poyo poyanger poy!" He cried in alarm. Scurrying around in pointless circles.

Suddenly the warpstar came from nowhere; it swiped him up from his feet and sped off to the throne room.

* * *

The sight that met him there made his blood boil.

"Meda Naih poyo!" He cried in alarm, tears formed in his eyes before hardening and staring at the two Chilidogs angrily.

The two hounds were occupied with the two knights. They had understood that the other one, the one with authority, had been injured and weakened and they had used that to their advantage. They automatically knew that these two were **much **weaker, but they were also un-injured. They gave the two knights undivided attention. That was a terrible mistake.

Kirby didn't need Fumu to tell him to do it, he inhaled Galaxia. Quickly he transformed, gaining the green pointed hat which fell onto his shoulders, and wielding the Sacred Sword Galaxia. Without hesitation he leapt into the air and brought his sword down, slicing a Sword Beam out which Sword barely was able to dodge.

One of the hounds collapsed in half. The other turned his attention to Kirby. Kirby could notice that two of the dogs had been smaller than one other. The one Meta Knight had slain had been larger than the Chilidog that had attacked Dreamland so long ago. The other two were about half that one's size. It struck Kirby as odd. But he only dismissed the thoughts and began to trade blows with the hound, with Sword and Blade striking behind.

Sword leaped into the air and landed on the dog's back, tipping back and forth but finally getting balance. She gripped one of the spikes just as the dog reared. She only just held on. Her other hand brought up her sword, slowly, at first, but gaining speed. Finally she brought it down, slicing into the dogs back and piercing its heart.

Blade, realizing the dog was dying, cut into it with his own sword too, while Kirby rolled under its belly and cut it open. The dog gave one last gurgling scream and managed to spit one flaming ball at the pillar Fumu and Bun were hiding behind before blood spilled from its jaws and it collapsed.

The pillar swayed and started to fall. Fumu and Bun moved out of the way, but it wasn't going to fall on them, anyways. It was going to fall on Meta Knight.

"Meta Knight!" Sword and Blade screamed at the same time, but it was too late.

***

O_o another cliffhanger. Hope you like the story so far! Read + Review!


	6. My Shadou is Following Me

Sorry about all the mistakes in the last chapter. I will go back and correct them soon.

Disclaimer: I own nobody except the un-named OC.

***

"Sir Meta Knight!" Sword and Blade screamed at last moment, but it was too late. The pillar fell, and they were forced to watch in horror. It crashed onto the ground. Dust and dirt burst from the floor, blinding everyone in the room momentarily. Those moments were full of suspense.

"Meda Naih poyo…" Kirby whispered tearfully, "Meda Naih…"

Then the dust cleared. Meta Knight was barely standing after rolling to the side at last moment. He was snapped awake at the sharp pain from some shards of glass when the first hound's crystal shattered, but he had not the strength to move. Until, that is, his life was threatened.

He gave a gasp of pain and collapsed once again, this time, he really couldn't move. His torn wing was limp and tattered. The blood already started pooling again.

Fumu leapt into action immediately.

"Sword! Blade! Don't just stand there looking stupid! Hurry; get him to Pupupu Village to see the doctor right now! Can't you see he is **DYING?!**"

"Y-yes uh, ma'am?" Blade thought about it for half a second before hurrying over to the unconscious knight…

* * *

"Quite unexpected, I must say." Dr. Yabui pondered. They were all in the waiting room, expecting the worst from his terrible state.

"Unexpected what?" Fumu blurted out, not wanting him to hold back what was happening for half a second more than needed.

"Sir Meta Knight…" Dr. Yabui looked over them all carefully, "is…"

"Come on, spit it out already." Sword persisted.

"He will be…" He held the tension, clearly enjoying it.

"Fine." Everyone started at that, for that was not Dr. Yabui's voice at all. Turning their heads toward the door they saw Meta Knight, and he looked perfectly fine. Of course, he didn't have his wings unfolded so no one could see the damage inflicted.

"Wha- What are you doing here?! You're supposed to be in bed, resting! You don't know how serious those wounds are!" Dr. Yabui stammered.

"Oh, trust me, I know perfectly fine. I've been in enough wars in my life to know a serious wound when it's there. I can handle it for now." He stated calmly in that unemotional way of his.

"Is that lizard following me, or what?" Bun broke the silence. He pointed at a vividly emerald green lizard that was watching the scene with calm, cold eyes.

Meta Knight's orb like eyes flashed upon it. Quickly, so fast some would think it a trick of the light, his eyes flashed a deep red before turning a bright orange. His gloved hand moved toward Galaxia's hilt without thinking. He took one step back as if a contagious poison was on the ground before him.

"…Shadou…" He quietly whispered to himself before turning and walking away with haste only Sword and Blade could see. Startled, they hopped onto their feet and chased after the injured knight. The innocent lizard stood there, watching Bun.

"S-s-stalker l-lizard!" He cried out before bolting out Dr. Yabui's door.

Fumu stood there stunned for a moment before trading glances with Dr. Yabui. Then she cursed under her breath and chased after the knights and her brother. The lizard following behind, at a distance.

* * *

"~Poyo poyo poyo poy! ~" Kirby hiccupped as he skipped to his hut.

"What is it you want, Kaabii?" Tokkori snapped, eyeing the infant Star Warrior from a distance.

"Poyo poyo Meda Naih poyo." He explained carefully.

"Speak Japanese, puffball." Tokkori growled. (Yes I am 'translating' this from Japanese too English ^.^)

"Meda Naih po- hurwt poyo!" Kirby tried again.

"Meta who what?"

* * *

"Meta Knight! You shouldn't be running with those injuries! Just slow down and talk! There's nothing to be running from!" Bun cried out, panting heavily, along with his sister, they had fallen behind in the chase. Meta Knight seemed to have an unlimited supply of energy for running as fast as the wind. But she noticed something else also had the great energy besides Sword and Blade. The lizard. It struck Fumu as odd.

"How wrong you are at that." Meta Knight whispered under his breath. He knew the lizard was behind him. He suddenly swung around, unsheathed Galaxia, and thrust it at the lizard, so that it threatened but didn't harm.

Sword and Blade stumbled into the scene.

"What's so scary about a lil' lizard, sir?" Sword looked at the innocent lizard.

From far behind, Bun caught the comment and desperately gasped;

"It's a stalker!"

"That 'lil' lizard is a Shadou." Meta Knight growled, still threatening it with his sword.

"Shadou?" Fumu asked. (She had caught up.)

"A Shadou is a being made from shadows. It can take the form of any creature it had seen and taken the DNA of. The creature will kill you if it touches you in its shadow form or if you are holding an item that inflicts and kind of pain to it, or you inflict the pain yourself. Once it kills, it can take the DNA and replace that creature. It will then be able to take on the form of the victim at will. But the Shadou always have one flaw when they take a form and that is how you can see them." Meta Knight explained while holding his sword out.

"How did you know the butterfly wa-"-"-s a stalker!" Blade tried to start the question when Bun interrupted. Blade snarled at him behind his mask before trying again.

"Sir, how did you know the butterfly and the lizards were Shadou?" Blade questioned while Fumu kept her hand over Bun's mouth.

"The butterfly had only one antenna. The lizard is missing a toe." Meta Knight pointed out obviously.

"How could you see a tiny toe missing on a microscopic lizard when you're like twenty feet away?!" Fumu blurted out incredulously.

Meta Knight glanced at Fumu for a moment before continuing to threaten the lizard; "I have my ways."

"Sir, just wondering, but why are you threatening the lizard with your sword, cause if you harm it you'll die." Sword questioned.

"Would you rather scare it to not come up to you and kill you in its shadow form or let it?" Meta Knight pointed out obviously again.

The lizard started to build its confidence and moved forward, it even bared its microscopically small teeth.

"Well, I see it was sent to kill me so I would rather leave it now." Meta Knight stated before flashing out his wings. One was pretty much fine but the other had visible stitches in it. The skin was slowly healing but it was still a bad injury.

"Sir, how in the world are you going to fly with a wing that torn?" Blade cried out.

"Simple logic. No time to explain though, but all I can say is I won't be a very graceful flyer right now."

As he sloppily took off into the sky, Fumu watched in wonder at his wings. She had never really seen them out like that. She knew the others were staring at them too; they just didn't want to say it. She felt terrible when his flight was very jolted, but he did fly. His huge wings stretched out on either side really made the wound stick out. It must be terribly hard to fly at all.

Fumu moved her gaze to the lizard which she saw _was _missing a toe. It was watching Meta Knight's jerking flight in disappointment. Fumu continued to watch it. Suddenly, the lizard dropped dead. She gasped. A shadow made of what looked like coiling snakes slithered and leaked from the dead corpse. The Shadou lashed and curled. It made her shiver, but also made her hypnotized. Suddenly, the Shadou clumped together and started to get larger, as if it understood it had been found and no long needed to hide.

It started clicking and moving into itself as if moving a jigsaw puzzle. It became flesh and blood, bone and marrow, tooth and talon. Fumu took a step back as she saw the enormous being take form and realized with shock and horror that in order to take this form, it must have _met _and _killed _one. So there were others out there.

Standing before her was a huge creature; the front of it represented an eagle. Swift at heart and born to fly, made in every way to become air born. With two sweeping wings, massive and giant. The eagle half was completely covered in light brown feathers that looked soft to the touch.

The back end of the creature was the total opposite. Fur, deep brown fur rippled over the bulging muscles of the great cats. A long, swishing tail with a tuft at the end lashed at the ground impatiently. The lion part was completely made for ground. Every tissue, every muscle, every single cell in the lion was made for sneaking and pouncing on the prey on land. Every single individual fur sent a discharge of energy from the raw power that crackled like lightning around it.

With a roar that was half eagle screech and part lion roar, the mighty being leapt into the sky to chase it's injured prey.

***

OOoOOoo I made my OC! (everyone must know now that I 3 cliffhangers ^.^) After this Shadou is disposed of, they shall hunt the new Nightmare before he sends another trick into the air. But right now, Mety's in a pickle.

Read + Review!


	7. One Eye

Ok we're back. Thanks all for the reviews you have been giving

Disclaimer: I own nobody except my OC the Shadou.

***

With a roar half eagle screech and part lion roar, the mighty being leapt into the sky to chase its injured prey.

"We can't just stand here, we must help our lord!" Sword exclaimed.

"What do you suggest? Remember what he said, we can't harm it." Fumu dully pointed out.

"That's a trick question in itself, out lord always talks in riddles." Blade continued.

"As I said, what do you suggest? We don't have much time before… you know." Fumu cried out in frustration.

"We just need to harm it with nature, get it somewhere where nature will do the rest." Sword finished.

"And what do you suggest?" Fumu snapped impatiently.

"Well…"

* * *

The Shadou shot through the sky like a bullet the size of a mountain. Its vast wings seemed to cover the sun itself, sending a shadow onto the land. Meta Knight saw it coming and quickly folded his wings close, diving through the air just as the creature skimmed over head, talons searing the wind itself.

It gave a hellish scream of rage, bloodshot eye (the flaw was it only had one eye!) searching for the winged knight that had escaped it one time to many. Meta Knight saw his destination, the mountains, in his sight. Quickly he soared toward it, with the Shadou searching for him in the wrong direction. _Even though they can take the forms of intelligent beings, they never are themselves._

After soaring at a good pace toward the mountains for around a good ten minutes, the giant creature turned and saw Meta Knight. Angry from being tricked again, it roared and screeched, shooting like a meteor through the sky. Easily, he dodged under the lion claws that struck the wind in its search. Slowly he lured the Shadou toward the mountains.

* * *

"I can see right through his plans! Come on, that race car of his is just inside the castle. We will need it if we are to help him out." Sword and Blade scrambled toward the castle with the others close behind.

* * *

"So, you expect _me _to believe that _Meta Knight _is being attacked by a creature the size of the sky for no apparent reason? You really try to stretch your luck, puffball." Tokkori rolled his eyes and continued to watch TV.

"Poyo poyo poy! Poyo!" Kirby desperately cried out, the door wide open and waving his stubby arm at the sky. Tokkori utterly ignored him.

"Shut it creampuff." He growled, watching the screen.

"Poy! Poyo poyo wook poy!" He grabbed Tokkori's wing and shoved him outside, pointing at the sky.

"Fine fine fine, just let me watch my sho- HOLY S***!"

* * *

Like lightning, Sword, Blade, Fumu, and Bun raced across the country, there aim was what Meta Knight had already saw; an avalanche ready to fall in the mountains.

"How come Meta Knight always has such good luck with nature and we're always stuck in the mud for about an hour before the luck shines on us?" Fumu grumbled as she noticed Meta Knight was the one in danger but he was also the one who had the ingenious idea of the avalanche.

"Just play along, we're used to it." Blade answered, stepping on the gas harder.

Before they knew it, the crazy fast race car had them at the very bottom of the mountains.

"Ok, we walk from here on." Sword said. She carefully stepped out and onto the rocky ground. All four of them looked up at their target so far above with growing doubt.

* * *

"I can't _believe _you just went ahead and ate some of my feathers, you dimwit! I'll be bald on my back for weeks!" Tokkori screamed in rage as he rode upon Feather Kirby's back. His Indian headband blowing flat against his head/body in the wind.

"Poyo poyo poy poyo." Kirby explained in the wind.

"Yeah, yeah I understand every word you say, no doubt."

"Poyo!" Kirby cried happily.

* * *

"Thanks for the lift, Dynablade!" Fumu cried happily, clutching the iron hard feathers in her fingers.

_"Anytime. I could never forget the deeds you have done for me and my hatchling." _She answered in a beautiful voice like wind chimes twinkling in the evening breeze.

"Whoa! You can talk?" Bun almost fell off her back.

"_Of course._"

"Oh my god! Roast dinner just talked!" Blade screamed before, with a shove from Fumu, he shut his mouth.

Ignoring his comment, she continued; _"I do not want that creature claiming the skies for its own! These are my lands it's in. I will stop at nothing to get rid of it. If I must, I shall summon the Lighting of the Sky myself to curse it from the sky."_

"Lighting of the Sky? You mean lightning?" Bun asked.

"Chicken in the sky can make roast dinner!" Sword screamed.

* * *

Now all he had to do was wait. The avalanche was just below him. When the Shadou decides to land he shall let it go by kicking the 'set off' boulder in front of him. Only problem is to get it to land underneath the avalanche. But he knew that the others would help him with that, for without knowing it, Dynablade was the perfect thing to make the land. Nothing would want to fight Dynablade herself, she who is immune to all death in one tries like the Shadou, in her own territory of air.

Just as expected, Dynablade cornered the being. Wing span against wing span, Dynablade was four times as large. Frightened, the Shadou screamed a warning at Dynablade, unaware that it would be unable to kill the monster bird if it did damage. Building up courage, the Shadou did nothing but attack Dynablade herself.

Of course, Dynablade dropped her passengers on a ledge before commencing the battle that would scar the skies for years to come.

Metal armor against soft feathers and fur, nature against talon and claw, beak clashed wing, blood flew in all directions, and Dynablade was untouched. But then, in one terrible strike, the Shadou burned Dynablade with a Curse of Shadows. Screaming in rage and pain, Dynablade called upon lightning to strike the Shadou from the sky.

Light blinded the seven, for Kirby and Tokkori arrived a little while ago. A huge flash and lightning cracked, thundering down from the heavens and striking the Shadou. Falling from the sky with the terrible smell of burning flesh, the Shadou crashed onto the ground below Meta Knight. The being was dead, yes, but the Shadou was not. Leaking from the giant body, shadows in the form of coiling snakes formed on the ground, spreading out, and then clumping together to become much larger.

It formed another lion eagle creature, but this time, it was much, much more threatening. The feathers that rippled on the eagle part formed scales, a deep maroon red. Its fur was twisted together, massed in clumps, messed with in every way you could find possible. One of its wings was fleshless, made of entirely bones. Its one eye was clouded and shadowy. One leg was torn and blood leaked onto the ground. Bun nearly fainted on the spot;

"Z-z-zombie m-monster."

Quickly, without another thought, Meta Knight kicked the boulder with all his might. It shuddered once, before it fell. It fell and crashed onto the eagle creature's wounded leg. With an angry eye it turned and fixed its cold gaze on Meta Knight. But then, the avalanche fell.

That one boulder triggered thousands and thousands of huge, sharp boulders to thunder down the side of the mountain. The Shadou's one eye widened as the avalanche came directly upon it, and then, it vanished under the mass. With one last scream from the depths of hell that made all of the gathered, even Dynablade's, skin prickle. Then, it was gone.

Meta Knight glided over to the others. He landed and folded his wings quickly, for he noticed Tokkori who was watching with crazed awe, and he told them of what he knew about Nightmare returning. As they talked, so far below in the valley at the total bottom of the mountains, rocks piled high from the monstrous avalanche rested after long waiting for that day.

Deep, buried in the mass of boulders and rocks, with shards piercing its flesh, a griffin lay. The mighty creature only had one eye.

That one eye opened.

***

Well, that might be another cliffhanger; soon the actual story will really begin! (I know, right!) So yeah, if you're wondering, Shadous don't die very easily. And only immortal beings like Dynablade can inflict damage on them directly without dying.

Read + Review please!


	8. Rebuilt as Polished Silver

Next chapter is here! So, now they finally go off to figure out who is pulling off all these tricks, and to stop him! (Dang, must feel terrible for Mety, all those countless times the halberd has been destroyed and he was forced to watch! Kirby blew it up, Nightmare blew it up, I forget the other thing but I remember something else blowing it up and then so and so…)

***

"Wait, so you mean we are going back to the Halberd? But didn't it… I dunno… blow up?" Bun pointed out as they walked toward the halberd's 'garage'.

Meta Knight frowned behind his mask, "Yes, and a terrible loss it was. But we rebuilt it. The other one was getting a bit out of date anyways."

"You... rebuilt… the halberd?! THE HALBERD?!" Bun and Fumu gasped in shock, remembering the vast halls, the huge rooms, the details, the controls, the functioning, everything.

"Yes I did, with some help from Sword and Blade here. I am quite proud of it too."

He stopped and suddenly, they hadn't noticed in their shock, the Halberd was before them. It was different, the old almost purple exterior was now polished silver, glimmering and sparkling when any kind of light touched it. The many bat wings on the other one were now condensed into two wings on each side, huge and massive. They were the color of pitch black darkness with azure tips. As they came closer, they noticed the silver base actually had delicate designs circling the whole halberd, like a white railing forever spiraling.

Bun lifted a finger and touched one. It was thin like thin ice, he knew if he pushed any harder it would snap. He lifted a questioning gaze to the knight, wondering why he would make such beautiful and delicate things on a war ship.

"They are actually made from an extremely rare metal that contains an extreme amount of electricity. When I put force fields on, the energy is focused into the shields, and when a marked enemy touches the barrier, they will be killed immediately. This is something I would rather you keep to yourselves for it is a powerful surprise for any enemy and they would not expect anything of the like unless warned." Meta Knight explained.

"Oh." Bun quickly withdrew his hand, eyeing the crystal metal suspiciously, like it might suddenly lash out and harm him.

"Well, let's go. Everyone please board the ship." Sword waved the way to the entrance.

"Wait, what? B-but we need to make plans! And I need to ask my parents and… and…" Fumu gasped in confusion, while Bun on the other hand gleefully skipped to the door and poked his head inside.

"OoooOOooOOoOOo sis! This place is awesome! Come on, look!" Bun squealed in delight before stepping inside.

"Fumu, do not worry. I have already informed your parents that we would be leaving. Preparations are complete and everything is ready." Meta Knight didn't turn his gaze to look at her, he just started walking toward his work-of-art ship and quietly boarded.

"B-but…" She tried, but she knew an argument lost when she saw one. Silently she boarded the huge and massive ship.

* * *

The insides had changed dramatically. The dull and musty walls were now polished silver and the control room was a deep black. _Those might be Meta Knight's favorite colors… maybe. _Fumu wandered around aimlessly. She noticed Sword beckoning to her and she followed her though the maze of hallways, she saw many different… pictures? They were framed with silver. She went closer to one and peered at it. A wave of sorrow for the knight washed over her.

The picture was of Meta Knight standing next to Jecra; they looked like they were laughing. In the background she could see other warriors that she couldn't recognize. They looked like they might be celebrating a victory of some sort. She peered closer and saw in the far back what looked like maybe Garlude. She was talking to someone. She thought she looked almost startled or determined in that picture, as if getting ready for something.

Maybe this was a picture before they would leave to claim Galaxia from the terrible demon beast; she would not know at this point that it would also claim her life. How she would hate if one of her friends were killed. She would cry for ages. _Poor Meta Knight, he has lost so many friends in his life. Maybe everyone in this picture. No, that was for certain. He said there were no survivors from the war except a handful like him and that weird island guy Dakonyo._

She suddenly remembered Sword and turned, she followed her to the control room again. In the middle of the room was a kind of 'plateau' where you could look down on the control area. To the left wall, a small area was reserved for what looked like one person. A nice looking chair was surrounded by thousands of buttons and levers and anything that might help one control a mighty ship like this.

She looked to her right and saw a similar construction, no exactly the same. _Those must be for Sword and Blade. _In the middle, looking out over the area ahead was the center controls. Many more than both the side control areas put together of levers and buttons and a wheel in the middle that must be for steering the ship. She could see something that might be an intercom. She could just make out a small screen that displayed the back of the ship and two others that displayed the sides so who ever was there could see in all directions and not just in front.

A bigger screen was to the side. She guessed it to be the screen that one would talk to another space ship on for it had some sort of mike, but that might just be for the intercom. She looked even harder and could swear she saw security camera displays. With one guess she knew the only person on the ship who would be able to even think about controlling such a mass of everything; Meta Knight.

"Well, this is the new Halberd. Hope it's to everyone's likings. Sword and blade shall show you to your rooms. There are a few rules like **no messing with the central controls ****at all.**Sword and Blade can give permission to use theirs." Meta Knight stated, seeing everyone was there.

"Kirby, Tokkori, Fumu, Bun come this wa-"Sword began.

"HEY! No leaving this star without US!" A loud and somewhat familiar voice thundered throughout the halls.

"_Dedede._" Fumu, Bun, Sword and Blade all groaned at the same time.

King Dedede, Escargon, Waddle Doo, and two Waddle Dees stood in the entrance to the control room.

Meta Knight sighed before giving in; "_Very well."_

"As I was saying, Kirby, Tokkori, Fumu, Bun, Ded-"Sword tried again.

"HEY! I get to be named first." Dedede growled, crossing his arms stubbornly.

"Ok, ok, _Dedede, _Kirby, Tokkori, Fumu, Bun, Waddle Doo, and the um… Waddle Dees and Escargon please come this way." Sword finished sounding a bit ticked.

"Wait!" No other than Chef Kawasaki came thundering in, "You will need a cook!"

"How is everyone popping up when no one knew this ship even existed?!" Meta Knight cursed under his breath.

"Ok, I'll put this nice and simple. _Everyone_ please come and follow me." Sword said each word slowly, taking her time.

Sword led everyone away from the control room. Fumu peered behind her to see Bun looking longingly at the central controls. She paused until she was side by side to him.

_"Don't even __**think **__about it." _She hissed at him.

"But don't you think when they say _not _to do something it makes you want to do it _more?_"

There was a lurch, she lost her footing and thumped onto the ground. The others followed her lead. Suddenly the intercom turned on;

"We have left the grounds of Popstar and are going into atmosphere."

"Why you ask should we not mess with the central controls? I'll tell you. Because this is _Meta Knight _we're talking about." She finalized with a last hiss in his direction before catching up with the others.

She saw a window to her side and couldn't help peeking out to watch Dreamland become smaller. She watched the lovely green landscape, and mentally targeted the castle and Pupupu Village. She could see Whispy Wood's forest and even saw the receding pile of boulders from the avalanche. She knew, deep inside those rocks, a massive creature lay. But somewhere deep in her wind she had a doubt. _Is it really dead?_

She gave one last look before hurrying up to the others. In that last look she could have sworn she saw the boulders move.

***

That's a 'sorta' cliffhanger. I just love them! Well, they have left on the halberd and Bun is feeling evil. Read + Review please!


	9. Picture of the Tear

Yay! I have an average of 2 chapters per day! Ugh but once school gets started on Monday my score will fall…

Disclaimer: I think you all know the drill by now…

***

Fumu was in her room. It was a lot like her room at the castle except it was truly fashioned for her and her only. There was a desk in one corner made out of some kind of nut. It had a marble cup with pens with ink of all the colors you could imagine. Then there were also a few pencils that looked as sharp and ready to go that they could be. There was a beautiful notebook waiting for her on the desk. When she had first entered she had ran to it and gasped in awe.

It looked like jewels had been imbedded into it; the cover was lined with them. She had moved her fingers over them and traced the picture they were making. It was a rose. When she opened it the pages looked delicate, patterns and art were faded in the background of every page. It never repeated the same design. To make it even better, there was a lock that she could set. She prayed to god in thanks. Never again would Bun steal her notebook and make an embarrassment of her!

She also had a bed, of course, it was beautiful as well but she didn't take much time to examine it as she did the desk. She had a large window. _Meta Knight must know I love star watching! _She ran to it without a second thought, peering into the endless cosmos. She could see so many stars around her it made her head spin. She noticed some of those delicate white 'electricity stores' (as she had come to call them) about five could be seen on their forever need to circle the halberd.

I know it sounds crazy because she is in the middle of space, a perfect target for any kind of terrible demon beast ship, but for once in her life she really felt safe. It was her true dream room. The thing she would fall asleep and live in, and then wake up to find it was all a dream to feel depression. But now, this was real. She wouldn't wake up for she was truly on her dream ship. Right now she was at her desk writing about things that had happened;

_The other day I learned about a new kind of demon; Shadou. These are extremely dangerous. You know they are a Shadou if they have a flaw. Examples;_

_Butterfly missing a leg._

_Lizard missing a toe._

_Eagle-Lion thing missing an eye._

_These creatures cannot be harmed by a mortal being, or else the mortal being will die immediately._

She paused for a moment and thought about something she had for awhile thought true.

_Meta Knight is not immortal. The creatures are most easily killed by nature._

She paused again and nibbled the pencil she was using. She thought about something that had occurred without her really thinking much about it.

_Every time the Shadou dies in a form and the Shadou takes on that form again, that form will look different. More 'dead'. Would they die if you killed them enough times in one form? _

She jumped out of her seat and hurried down the hall to find Bun, who knows what he could be up to.

* * *

"Hey, Sword." Blade called, sounding a bit bored.

"Yeah?" Sword answered, sounding equally bored.

"You know we could be working on helping our lord control the ship."

They both paused for a moment and considered the possibility. They remembered the incredible amount of controls and thought about Meta Knight having to work them all completely alone and without any kind of help. They both looked at each other.

"Nah." They both agreed at the same time.

* * *

Meanwhile Bun was walking down the halls when he came across a door with the sign; 'Do Not Enter.' He looked down at another smaller sign below it; 'Sword And Blade Work Area.' There was an even smaller one below it that made one of his eye brows arc; 'Meta Knight Especially May Not Enter.'

With a victorious grin he grabbed the door knob, yanked it to the side, and pushed the door with all his might. The door opened slowly. He shut his eyes and walked inside, turned around blindly and shut the door quietly. He then faced what was before him and gulped. He peeked one eye open.

Both his eyes flew open and with a gasp of pure delight he cried out;

"ARCADE!!!!!!!"

* * *

"So, Sword." Blade began.

"Yeah, Blade?" Sword questioned.

"Want to go to the arcade that we secretly built when Meta Knight's back was turned and claimed it to be our work area?"

They thought about it. Games and fun, shooting games and awesome 'fluffy bunnies skipping in a field of flowers' games. Wasting precious time enjoying something that endangers their very lives if Meta Knight finds out. They looked at each other.

"Totally!" They agreed at the same time before leaping to their feet and scrambling down the hallway to their secret room.

* * *

Chef Kawasaki trotted down the halls. His eyes trailed away from the ground and he peered at a picture on the wall. He gasped and looked closer, opening his eyes as wide as he could.

A village in the picture was burning, flames leaped and crackled. A race of creatures he did not know ran in vain in the ruins, some were trapped under collapsed buildings. Demon beasts were on the loose and destroying everything. In the middle of the chaos was a group of star warriors. Meta Knight was one of them. His sword; Galaxia, held out in front in defensive stance. The star warriors circled in protections a small group of the villagers.

Meta Knight had a small golden star on one shoulder plate. He noticed Meta Knight had the look of authority. Then he saw something that made him get a look of confusion. There was a part of the picture that was torn, it almost looked like that part was purposely torn out but the destroyer had attempted to make it look like it had been torn in battle. The torn piece was right next to Meta Knight himself.

All he could see of what possibly was supposed to be there was a foot. Black claws, maybe blackened by soot. Fur covered the rest of the paw. The fur was a magenta color. It vaguely reminded him of something, but he dismissed the idea in his mind and continued walking, tearing his eyes from the picture. A door was in front of him. Three signs were hammered onto it. Each time he read one of the signs one of his eye brows slowly arced upward.

He took a deep breath and slowly opened the door…

* * *

King Dedede sighed. He looked out his window as he tried again unsuccessfully to piece together his hammer. The split was clean and made him feel terrible. Escargon, on the other hand, was rejoicing and hiccupping happiness in his face. Dedede swore and oath under his breath that he would pummel Escargon over and over again when it was fixed.

* * *

Waddle Doo and his Waddle Dees guarded a picture on the wall that had made them feel good. It was a picture of when they had come back to Dedede when he had fired them all and Dedede was crying in happiness from their return. (Episode 47 Hoshi No Kaabii) They wondered how Meta Knight had gotten this picture but didn't think much of it.

They sighed.

* * *

Meta Knight steered the ship through space, he watched every lone asteroid and carefully kept an eye out for black holes. Solar Systems were avoided. He didn't have any need to crash into some hostile race at the moment although he still had a map of most the galaxy in his mind from the GSA.

His mind wandered to what the others might be doing. He hoped they liked the rooms he made for them. Suddenly his mind snapped back to the present. He swore he had seen something following them. He peered into the back mirror. He saw nothing. But his mind was not set at ease. He kept watching it. There! He saw something move again, it was far behind was it looked pretty darn large. It also didn't look like a ship.

_How could something live in space and not die? What would not die in the freezing temperature and lack of oxygen? _He racked his mind and found the answer with a shudder.

_Shadou._

***

Okay, that's chapter 9! Sword and Blade are being evil lolz and that Shadou wants revenge big time! Fumu likes her new notebook. There is a mystery picture that may give a clue to Meta Knight's past (Seriously, if he hates his past that much why would he hang that photo on the wall like a clue?) and Bun found Sword and Blade's arcade. Kawasaki did too. Fumu is hunting Bun.

The ending of this chapter might be another Cliffhanger ^.^ I love CLIFFHANGERS!

Read + Review, the review button is your friend.


	10. Shadou 002 Defeated?

Ok, chapter 10 is up! Hope you like :)

***

"BUN!" Sword and Blade gasped as they entered the arcade. Bun was playing a shooting game. He paused and turned toward them.

He gulped; "Oh, uh, hi Sword, hi Blade! I uh… found this room! You're going to kill me aren't you?"

"Nah, its fine. I bet I could beat you in that game!" Sword cried before joining Bun.

Blade on the other hand looked around sneakily to make sure Bun and Sword were locked in their game. Then he sneaked to the other side of the room where the 'bunnies skipping in a field of flowers' were. Soon everyone was locked in arcade games. That was when the door opened.

Everyone gasped and turned their heads, expecting to see Fumu, or worse, Meta Knight himself.

"Hi! Oh my god! IT'S AN ARCADE!" Chef Kawasaki cried in delight and ran to join Blade at what he was doing. Everyone let out a sigh of relief. Then they turned back to their games.

* * *

Fumu ran down the hallway and searched for Bun, she tore into his room to find he wasn't there. Cursing she shot out and scrambled down the hall. She stopped when she saw Waddle Doo and the Waddle Dees all standing guard around a picture.

"Hey, Waddle Doo, what picture do you find worth your time to guard?" She questioned.

"Look at it." He answered. She peeked at it to find that it was a picture of so long ago when Dedede had kicked out the Waddle Dees; this particular one was of him welcoming them back with tears in his eyes.

"Aw, that's sweet," She smiled, "Have you seen Bun?"

"He went down the hall, that way." Waddle Doo pointed down the hall further.

"Thank you, waddle doo!"

She continued walking down the hallways. She paused again at another picture that caught her eye. This one was totally different. It was a picture of a burning village. She peered closer and saw creatures of a different race trapped under rubble and debris. Many were fleeing. In the center was a circle of Star Warriors, along with Meta Knight himself, guarding a group of villagers that had managed to find him. She could see the golden star on his shoulder plate that told of his position as a star warrior and maybe even some of his authority.

She gasped at the piece right next to him that was torn away. She puzzled over it. _Maybe Jecra was supposed to be there and in his rage from his death Meta Knight had torn him out?_ But she knew that was not the case. Looking closer she could see a paw. It had white claws, blackened by soot and ash. Fur was just able to be seen around the claws. It was a startling magenta red. The claw reminded her of something. Or someone. She gasped.

The claw! Of course, it was none other than Wolfwrath's claw!

Her mind flew in all directions, piecing together everything like a puzzle missing the final piece and finally finding it. Reason crashed with craze, what she thought she knew was eaten by new ideas; everything was in the wrong place. Wolfwrath side by side with Meta Knight! Meta Knight had wings! Demon wings! _What. Did. This. Mean?! _The question had flailed like a beached fish in her mind forever, and finally the fish had found the sea.

_**Meta Knight was a demon.**_

Right then the ship jerked forward and she was thrown onto the ground. The intercom blared on;

"Commencing battle. Sword and Blade please report to the Control Room and get into your Battle Stations. All others please get to a safe area now." Meta Knight sounded so calm.

A few seconds later she heard the slam of a door and Sword and Blade ran past her so fast it was like a blur. She scrambled to her feet and rapidly thought about what a 'safe area' might be. She decided on her room and ran toward it, heart pounding. Another jerk and she was thrown forward again. She hit her jaw on the ground of the ship and saw stars for a moment.

She snapped back into focus and continued running. She burst into her room and carefully shut her door. She breathed a sigh of relief and leaped onto her bed. She then peered out into space, looking at her window.

* * *

"Sir!" Sword cried out.

"Sir!" Blade cried out.

They crashed into the control room and scurried into their positions. They both peeked a glance at Meta Knight for he hadn't answered, it was amazing, and he was like a blur working on everything.

"Now. Sword, I want you to prepare the engines for going into hyper speed. Blade, put on the shields." He ordered without looking at them.

He himself put on the intercom. They both thought it amazing how he could multitask like that and even still sound as calm as always.

"Everyone we are preparing to go into Hyper Space. The shields are about to go up. Please hold on tight and please keep limbs and bodies inside the ship at all times."

Blade quickly put on the shields. The whole ship shuddered and then all the thin ice like 'electricity stores' glowed. In her room, Fumu gasped. The shields were up. All around them an ice like structure quickly gleamed before turning transparent. While under the cover of the shields, Sword quickly prepared the ship for hyper speed. The ship suddenly jerked forward. Meta Knight's orb like eyes flashed onto the screen showing behind the ship to see the Shadou smashed into the shield.

For a crazy moment, everything was still. Sword's hands seemed to freeze, as did Blade's. Everyone suddenly was still. Even Meta Knight's operating the ship seemed to stop. Then, with a scream from hell, the Shadou dropped from space, falling with smoke rising from charred wings. Then Meta Knight's command cracked out like a whip;

"Into Hyper Speed, NOW!"

* * *

Falling. Falling. The Shadou fell through space. Its one eye opened and saw its prize ship's wings glow a light blue, then in a blast of color that danced in its eye, it was gone. Its wings and body healed quickly, for it was a Shadou after all. But it shut its one eye in defeat.

_**You have failed me, my prized Shadou 002. For that, you shall **_**suffer.**

"No! Please! Let me try one more time!"

_**No. You have proven you're weak. You have failed every battle you entered on this mission. You have failed me for the last time, Shadou 002.**_

"No… please…" it pleaded in vain, but to no avail.

_**Feel the price of failing your master!**_

Deep cuts and wounds slashed into the Shadou, blood poured into space, its wings snapped into a funny position, bones snapped out from its body, slicing its flesh. Its talons snapped and broke. Blood filled its beak and lifted into space. Feathers and fur alike flew into the air, like an invisible force was tearing them from their roots. One of its ears was torn and shredded to a bloody stump, as was a limb. Its tail burst into a bloody mess.

And through all of this, the Shadou lived. They could not die from mortal pain. It whimpered and cried out, blood pouring from its wounds and suffering from immense pain.

_**Yes, yes that's better. Now I can truly see your folly. You're weak. I will leave you here to die, if you manage to live than prove yourself worthy of being in my serves, rat.**_

Then the mighty Shadou wept.

* * *

"Leave Hyper Space. We have lost the Shadou." Meta Knight commanded. Immediately, the two knights left hyper space and they were back to normal speed.

Meta Knight turned on the intercom.

"We have lost our pursuer. You may go back to what you were doing. Thank you for your cooperation." Then he flipped the switch and turned to the knights.

"Good work, both of you, you may go back to as you were doing."

* * *

But they had not lost their pursuer. Drifting through space, licking and slowly healing its wounds, the Shadou was waiting. It knew where they were going and would intercept them to the base. It would not let them pass. It would kill them all.

It would kill the blue traitor, end his life forever.

_Meta Knight,_

_You have destroyed my life,_

_Shattered my honor,_

_Shredded my pride,_

_Broken my hope,_

_And… You… Shall…_

…_Pay…_

***

Yay! Cliffhanger! This chapter had important information in it. Oh my, I still need to explain where Kirby and Tokkori are! Oh well, I'll get to those complications next chapter.

Read + Review please!

(The review button is your friend!!)


	11. Damaged

Sorry for the short chapter, thinking about starting another story so I'll be doing two at the same time. That will make me slower to update, :(

You know the disclaimer by now.

***

"Everyone, the ship was damaged by the Shadou Attack, the shield enforcers were damaged severely. We will have to make a stop at the nearby planet Ervanis. (Pronounced: r-van-iss) Sorry for this inconvenience." The intercom blared on.

Fumu was still in a state of shock, so much that she didn't think about what was just said. Her mind was else ware. _Meta Knight is a demon. _Her first thought was to run and hide or tell Bun to hide Kirby, but then she caught her senses. _Meta Knight may be a demon, but that does not mean that he is on their side, does it?_

_Well of course not! He is like Kirby's father. He wouldn't kill him for his life! Would he?? He has rough housed with him, like that day so long ago when he challenged Kirby to a duel. But that was for training! Wasn't it?? Or has Meta Knight been on a secret mission to slowly sap Kirby's strength. Or worse, has he gotten an assignment to take them in to Nightmare?? _She didn't know what to think anymore.

_But wait, hasn't he served in the GSA? Wasn't he a high ranked unit? He couldn't be a traitor if he spent years killing demons! I'll have to ask Sword or Blade about that. How high in position was he? Dakonyo said he was the 'pride' of the GSA, so could that mean he was so high that he was a captain? Wait a minute, where is Sword and Blade, anyways? And Bun!_

Quickly she pulled herself together and resumed her hunt.

-a few minutes later

She carefully eyed the door up, and then down. Three signs were on the door. The first and the largest said; 'Do Not Enter.'

She moved her gaze slightly down and read the second one, slightly smaller than the first; 'Sword and Blade Work Area.'

She moved her gaze even farther down and read the final and smallest one which immediately made her suspicious; 'Meta Knight Especially May Not Enter."

_Hmm, Bun comes this was and sees this door. What's the first thing that comes to mind? Yeah, he is in here alright._

She grasped the knob and slowly opened the door.

"Ha-ha Sword! I beat you! I beat yo-"Bun was chanting, and then the door opened.

A startled gasp ran through the assembled.

"Bun! Chef Kawasaki! SWORD?! BLADE?!?!?!" Fumu gasped.

"Listen! I-I can explain!" Sword pleaded.

"You better! What is this? And does Meta Knight know you made your own private arcade IN THE HALBERD?!"

"N-no…" Blade admitted hoarsely.

"And I thought you were mature! Wait 'till Meta Knight finds out about this!" She huffed.

"Wait! Please no! If he finds out he'll have our necks! Look, there are some great games here!" Blade begged quickly.

"Really?" Fumu raised an eye brow.

"Yes! Some really great ones that you'll love!" Sword caught on.

"Hmm, show me."

and so it begins…

* * *

Meta Knight was working quickly. He had targeted a city on the planet of Ervanis and was trying to make contact for safe landing. He sent the signal for communication and now all he had to do is wait.

Suddenly, he got an answer. He listened to the message, remembering their language and translating it inside his head as the message was told.

"Unknown aircraft, please state your name and business on our planet or else you shall be shot down."

Not too friendly.

He returned a message calmly and spoke their rough language.

"I am Meta Knight, commander of the Halberd from planet Pop Star. We come for a special metal that your planet trades to repair our ship. Please let us pass."

He waited for a return signal.

"Commander Meta Knight, you may land safely in our city Florananct. We shall trade with you there. Thank you for cooperating."

He then turned on the intercom.

"Everyone, we are landing on planet Ervanis in the city of Florananct. When we land I would like you to speak to no one. Leave all communicating to me."

And then he went into orbit.

***

Aww not much of a cliffhanger, is it? Well as I said updates will not be as frequent because of another story being formed.


	12. Fresh Tracks

Sorry for the long wait, school and such.

You know the disclaimer.

***

"Zzz" a muffled scrape and the closet door creaked open, a deep magenta colored foot poked out.

Kirby rolled out of the closet he had been exploring before he had fallen asleep; he rolled clear over once before stopping in the middle of the hallway. He mumbled a few barely Japanese words. King Dedede happened to stroll by, after hearing that they would soon land, and spotted the sleeping ball. An evil grin spread across his yellow beak. He reached behind him for his mighty hammer…

"Damn!" He fumed under his breath, remembering Meta Knight had split it in half. He silently cursed Meta Knight, tainted or not it had been he who had destroyed his beloved hammer. _I'll have to go make another, or of course Escargon could do it. But he might make a clumsy mistake… _He pondered the situation before noticing the reason he had started fuming about in the first place was still curled up in a ball at his feet.

"Hammer or not I can still do this!" He chuckled as he kicked Kirby down the hallway; he bounced like a ball on the walls. Dedede grinned. He was about to go for another kick when he woke up. Startled, the little guy sputtered a few words from his own language before scrambling to his feet and speeding down the hallway to his room, escaping the mischievous penguin.

* * *

"Hmm, that blue ball has some good taste for rooms!" Tokkori gawked at his huge and spacey room with a nest high up out of anyone who couldn't fly's reach. The nest was lined with down feathers and fabrics. Appealed, Tokkori fluttered into it and felt around. It was sturdy. He peaked down below at a bed, in case he tired of the nest; it had a deep brown blanket over it and green pillows. _Wonderful! Tree themed! _He smiled as he noted that most of the things in his room were made of wood.

He continued to look around and then saw something in a corner. It was like a mini small bed, it was circular. It had light blue covers and a small pillow of a darker shade. He peered closer at it, it looked like nothing a bird would sleep in, and it didn't match the tree theme. He suddenly gasped.

_No! I can't be sharing a room with… with… _to emphasize his point, Kirby barged through the door and shut it, and then he plopped down and let out a deep breath. _… Kirby… _

Kirby looked up at his roommate and gave a toothless grin of happiness.

"Poyo! Poyo poyo poy!" He happily chirruped.

"Ugh, not you! Kirby here, Kirby there, no time alone these days!" He hissed from the corner of his beak angrily.

"Poyo!" He jumped up, took a deep breath, floated over to Tokkori, and gave him a big bear hug.

"Gah! Kirby! G-get off me!" He cried out in vain.

* * *

"We are landing now. Everyone please enter your assigned room and stay there until you are told. Sword Knight and Blade Knight please report to the control room." Meta Knight's calm voice came over the Intercom. The group assembled in the secret arcade dispersed to their rooms sadly, hoping their next visit would come soon.

"Come on Blade, let's go." Sword ran off down the hall with Blade hot at her heels. Soon they were at the viewing plat form. They dallied for a second to gawk at how quickly Meta Knight was working, then trotted down the stairs.

"We are here, Sir, what did you call upon us for?" Blade asked.

"Please take your stations. Do not talk to anyone. I need you to seal all the doors of the rooms once everyone is inside. I want no one wandering into the trading." He commanded. The two quickly took their places and watched until Bun was finally in his room and sealed all doors and windows just to be sure. They stayed at their stations just in case.

Meta Knight secured the landing, they peered through the screen to see a loud and busy city with creatures like none they had ever seen swarming all over, they had pale blue skin, and what looked like long lizard like tails. They couldn't see them well so that's all they could guess about them. Meta Knight gave them an order to stay where they were and hopped off his chair, exiting the Halberd.

A second passed, then another.

"I'm bored." Blade complained automatically.

* * *

Meta Knight briskly paced from the safety of the Halberd. He stepped in the door way of his ship and waited. Two of the inhabitants of the city came out to greet him. They spoke in their language and it took him a second to remember they would not speak his own.

"Commander Meta Knight, as we guess it is you, we have been informed of your presence." They nodded to him. He couldn't help noting their one stalk eye that branched from their forehead. They had six legs, four they used as 'legs' and two as 'arms', they had a tail with two spikes on the very end. Their whole body was covered in pale blue skin; their necks were covered in what might be taken as a mane. The fur on the mane was wiry and thick. They were not the most wonderful of foreign hominids.

"Please, come this way." The other spoke up. He followed them without a word. Their technology what much like that of Pop Star. He entered a building, following the two strangers. The room must be a storage room for it was stocked with odds and ends. He could see metal glinting among a pile of dusty books. A box of what might be portable… food? His eyes traced the room until they fell upon a box with the label of the metal he needed.

"You would like some Aritic? How many boxes would you wish to trade for?" the first questioned.

"Five." Meta Knight answered shortly, knowing the best he talked the better.

"Alright then." The first motioned toward the second and it walked forward and lugged five boxes of Aritic onto something that resembled a wagon and they left the room.

"What are you willing to trade for this?" The second pried for more.

Meta Knight opened his hand and revealed three jewels, they were silver with a golden core, it was cold to the touch and gave off an aura of frost. He held them out to the two traders; they stared at it in disbelief, gaping at its beauty. Quickly, the first regained its authority and persisted;

"Two mere gems for five boxes of extremely rare Aritic?" Meta Knight sighed and knew he would have to talk.

"These are no mere gems. Have you no idea what I hold in my hand?" The two hesitated, as if not wanting to admit them not as intelligent to a unknown life form that was much smaller then themselves.

"Explain." The second commanded.

"These are Frosime (Fros-I'm). An extremely rare gem from the planet of Frosimias." He explained.

"From Frosimias? But that planet was destroyed a thousand years ago!" The first gasped, forgetting the authority.

"As I said, they are extremely rare. It would be foolish to turn down this deal."

"We except." They finally gave in. They handed the knight the wagon, and in return Meta Knight gave them the crystals. The gasped when they got them, each trader holding one. Quietly, he turned and went back to the ship, holding the wagon in one gloved hand. _That was pleasantly fast. I was expecting more of a challenge._

He boarded his ship and hoisted the boxes in one by one. He then shut the hatch and called to Sword and Blade.

"Yes Sir?" Blade stopped before him.

"Sir!" Sword did the same.

"Here are the metals needed for repairs. Please repair the ship."

"Yes Sir!" They both answered.

He watched them disappear. Then he turned to see how everyone was doing in their rooms. He was what was expected. Most of them hadn't noticed the doors and windows sealing shut, but someone had. Fumu was gasping as she tried to pry the door open. He turned on the camera's recorder and listened to what she was saying. She was using some sort of stray metal.

"…Why… won't… this… door… open…" She grunted.

He turned on the direct intercom and focused it on her room only. Then he spoke to her.

"Fumu, we have sealed all windows and doors to prevent contact with the inhabitants of this planet, please excuse me not informing you."

She flinched from that and looked around in surprise. "W-where are you?" She stammered. Then she stiffened and answered to the unseen knight, "I would _like _to have my _freedom._"

"Fumu, please understand, I know these creatures, they sprinkle you with praises while they slowly get their tails behind you to strike. The two that I traded with were tempted to try it with me. They knew I have some valuable things with me, and on my ship."

She hadn't thought about that. "Then why did you let Sword and Blade stay out?"

"I can trust them to defend themselves."

"And what about you? I am sure they wouldn't want an armed warrior wandering around their city." She was smart.

"True, but I can handle these situations. We will be leaving as soon as possible and then I will unseal the doors."

"Why are you so quick to leave?" She was starting to go too far.

"Reasons of my own."

"Meta Knight! _Why?" _That was her I-am-going-to-destroy-this-whole-world-if-I-don't-get-an-answer-right-now voice. He sighed and considered breaking contact, but knew better than to anger Fumu to far.

"Fine, I am one of the most wanted in the universe; I have a huge bounty on my head. Dead, or alive." Then he snapped out of contact, he had given away too much.

Fumu stood there in silence, stunned. _Meta Knight is wanted? One of the most wanted in the universe?! A bounty?! DEAD OR ALIVE?! _She stood there for a few moments before stumbling onto her bed. She pulled out her note book and quickly took notes on what she had just found out about.

* * *

Sword and Blade worked side by side, the parts damaged would soon be fixed and then they would have lots of extras for the future. Each sliver they shaped fit perfectly from their long hours of experience. Slowly and surely, the smashed section was taking shape once again. They were nervous in this territory; they had been here before now that they can remember fully.

Here, Meta Knight is well known for a huge bounty. He had disappeared from all radars of the universe for ages, and now he had returned. If they would remember right away, they were not sure. All the same it was best to leave as fast as possible. Sword pressed in the last piece. They scrambled back into the halberd and were relieved to find that they had not been found. Their presence must have been forgotten from the years of not being found.

Happy that they might have a clean slate, they got into their positions next to Meta Knight and helped him with the takeoff. They rose into the sky and left the planet, entering space once again.

* * *

_So, Commander Meta Knight has returned. _

The trespasser flicked its wrist, a net of chain mail clinked slightly as it hit the floor. Small beads were imbedded in different places. In its other hand was a bow. It had a quiver filled with iron arrows, each with a kind of dart, one that will tranquilize. It placed one jet black paw one step forward, reached back and drew one dart-arrow and notched it in its bow. It brought it up to her face and aimed at its prey…

***

So, Meta Knight is a 'once wanted' figure with only one hunter still on his trail. Lolz I just _love _cliffhangers, as you all know too well! ^.^


	13. Searclaw Shadowstalker Dragonfang

So another chapter is up, this one is sorta boring, introduces another OC, the OC's data will be soon added to my profile.

Disclaimer: I own no one except my new OC and the Shadou.

***

The arrow, beautifully made with black designs curling in spirals around it and ending in two sharp points side by side to the metal paralysis, flew through the air, cutting in faster than a bullet. The pitch black feathers the trailed behind it for at least two feet flew gracefully out behind, while helping slice the wind. It arced, although going faster than sound, and struck its target.

Sword and Blade whipped their heads around when they heard a gasp from their lord. Quickly, they slammed a hand down on the autopilot and struggled to get up. Their lord had fallen forward, a black arrow piercing his back. Quickly they drew their swords and hurried to their lord's sides.

"M-Meta Knight?! Answer me! P-please!" Sword choked before she heard a rustle from behind her. She remembered only then that if a arrow what in their lord that there must have been something here to release that arrow.

"Who's there?!" Blade growled angrily, his sword in front of him in battle stance. He peered into the darkness with rage filled eyes and gasped when he saw two green cat eyes watching them.

"Show yourself!" Sword commanded.

"Oh, should I? What makes you think that _you _can command _me?_" The voice was like a purr, but also like a snarl.

"Did you kill our lord?!" Blade hissed, ready to strike out at the intruder if he heard the wrong answer.

"Of course not! Why would I kill _him?" _The two knights were startled; they had thought the intruder had killed their lord. Sword peered at the arrow and saw that it was a paralyzing arrow, and not a killing one.

"Then what do you want him for?!" Blade boldly called.

"I'll keep that as my own business." With that, the intruder stepped into the light.

At first, it looked like a black leopard standing on two legs, but then they noticed the differences. For one, its tail had an ending of tree vicious silver spikes, ones that could easily slice into their armor. Its back had black spikes as well, trailing down from in between its furry ears to the start of its tail. It had armor, too. Shoulder plates made of fine silver with delicate designs, a kind of helmet or mask made of silver covered its whole head, except leaving its eyes to show. Two horns branched from the helmet and swept back behind it. There were silver hand and wrist armor and even armor on its two hind paws. It looked like a mutant.

It was holding a beautiful bow, probably the nicest bow they had ever seen in their lives. In its other paw was a kind of net with beads in it. They recognized the beads as a kind of electrocuting devise. They noticed a quiver slung across its back with more of the beautiful arrows, and a sword was in its sheath at its side. They couldn't see the sword itself, but the sheath was lined with jewels of different colors. Sword and Blade didn't know very much about jewels, but they could see that they were real.

_Dang it, this thing is rich. _

"What does this guy want?" Blade whispered to Sword.

"_Guy? GUY? _I am no _'guy'! _I am a _she!" _The thing snarled, emerald green eyes blazing with an inner fire.

"S-sorry miss, but WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Blade exploded, having a conversation with a mutant leopard thing that just paralyzed their lord and is armed with elaborate and expensive weapons was not the sanest thing to do.

"Your 'leader' has a great bounty on his head. I am a bounty hunter, and unless I get something better by leaving him alone I will be leaving with my catch." She took a step forward.

"You won't lay a finger on him as long as we're alive!" Sword and Blade growled, bracing themselves and gripping their swords so hard their knuckles grew white.

"That's not a problem." The creature drew her sword, it was sharpened to the finest point, clean and pure silver polished to the greatest gleam imaginable. Runes were engraved in its surface.

"S***." Sword stated.

"We're screwed." Blade added.

"Blade, get that arrow out of our lord right now!" Sword whispered, preparing to hold off the bounty hunter. Without a word, Blade obeyed and quickly grasped the arrow, he pulled it out cleanly. It had not a single drop of blood on it. Immediately, to Sword and Blade's surprise, Meta Knight recovered. He whirled around and drew Galaxia.

"God damit." The huntress cursed and turned around, speeding down the hallway with her tail flying out behind her. Every one of her moves seemed graceful, she used every shadow to her advantage, and although the two apprentices chased her, they soon lost her trail.

They turned around, disappointed, and returned to their leader.

"How did you recover so quickly?" Blade questioned.

"That was a pure paralyzing arrow. All it does is paralyze until removed, and it never leaves a wound. It is highly valued for Bounty hunters who go for capturing their targets alive." He answered. He was completely unharmed.

"She said she wanted to catch you." Sword stated obviously.

"I could see that. I think I can get her to change her mind, though." He answered calmly and walked down the hallway, leaving them.

"That was weird." Blade commented.

* * *

_So close, so close. If only I wasn't born a talker! They said that would be the end of me, I should have listened, dang it! _She hid in the shadows, completely camouflaged. _$900,000 down the drain! I could have gotten that damin tail armor! And in that beautiful silver sheen too… _She snapped back into concentration when she saw her prize walking down the hall in her direction. _That's a fool, alright! Another chance! _

She quickly drew an arrow and aimed at him. _Such a fool… _She suddenly noticed he was looking directly in her direction.

"Please do not try to kill me when I just wish to talk to you." He calmly said. There was a half second pause before her chatty side took over and she lowered her bow. The arrow was still locked in the bow in case. She then stepped forward and faced him.

"What do you want?" She hissed, baring her fangs behind her mask.

"Simple. You're a bounty huntress. I would pay you finely if you would put away that bow and joined us in our mission."

"W-what? No! Do you _know _how much I'll get to capture you?"

"Yes."

"Then why do you even _think _about the _possibility?" _She hissed, tightening her grip on the bow.

"I can give you more." He answered plainly. He knew that bounty hunters would easily switch teams if more would benefit.

"What could be more than that? It's the most I've ever _seen _on a bounty!" She snapped.

"You underestimate me. Look here." He held out his gloved hand, within were ten Frosime jewels, he always had some with him in case of emergencies.

"Is that Frosime?!" The huntress gasped.

"Yes, it is. I'll give it to you if you fulfill the task and stay with us for our mission." He offered.

"Fine. What is your mission?"

"To defeat Nightmare once and for all."

"You're crazy! No one can defeat Nightmare!" She gasped.

"We have the star warrior who is capable, and then there is myself."

"What can _you _do?"

"I'll leave that to myself, thank you." He answered. "Do you accept?"

She thought about it_. $900,000 is a good amount. Those jewels are worth more though, maybe five times as much. Then of course this mission may mean certain death and probable capture and torture until I beg to die, while the other is simple 'let the arrow fly and drag the prey to the guy'. _Easy prey or certain death.

"I'm in."

* * *

The doors finally unsealed and Fumu burst through, stumbled, and hit her head on the wall in front of her. He got up, closed the door, and rushed to the control room. Something was up. She had watched the ship sail through space and the door hadn't opened.

She slammed open the door and gasped. A leopard creature was standing next to Sword, Blade, and Meta Knight. Right when the door opened, the leopard whipped around and drew its bow, it already had an arrow in it and quickly it aimed at her.

"Put down the bow." Meta Knight commanded, and the creature lowered the bow.

"Wh-wh-what in the name of the lord?!" She choked.

"This, Fumu, is Searclaw Shadowstalker Dragonfang. Siliver, for short."

Siliver lowered her bow and slipped it away. _Weird name, Siliver. _Fumu thought after pondering the creature's extremely long name.

"I am guessing your name is Fumu." Siliver greeted.

"Nice to meet you, Siliver." She politely returned.

"Siliver, these are who you are not to harm." Meta Knight showed her a picture of the passengers of the ship.

"Weird group." Siliver commented when she saw the penguin king. "Is there any who is of a higher ranking then me besides you and your knights?" The knight hesitated before saying;

"No."

"Where shall I stay, on your mighty ship?" She asked, basically ignoring Fumu who was trying to catch what they were saying.

"I have a room that you can be in." Meta Knight pointed to something on the screen that Fumu couldn't see and Siliver nodded.

"See ya." Siliver called over her shoulder as she left down the hallway. Meta Knight then resumed steering the ship. Sword and Blade walked over to Fumu. There was _a lot_ to explain.

***

Sorta boring chapter, Siliver is introduced. She is my OC. MINE! Read + Review!


	14. Ambushed

And sooooo I have the next chapter up! The weekends have returned so I'll be updating both my stories more frequently. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer is the same. I own no one except MY OCs!

***

"Hmm, got to admit this guy has good taste." Siliver whispered to herself as she walked through the walls of silver. She opened every door she found no matter if it said not to enter or anything. Bounty huntresses really don't care.

She came to the three sign door. Being a bounty hunter like herself, she didn't have to read to signs. She grasped the knob, which is hard to do with paws not meant for holding circular things as most of the doors in the Halberd have different kinds of opening devices, and turned. She pushed it open and gasped. _This guy has weird humor! An arcade in the middle of a war ship?! _She quickly shut the door when she noticed that the boy she had seen on the screen Meta Knight had shown her was inside and playing something. _I'll have to ask that knight about this._

She continued walking through the hallways and opening doors until she came to the door of Tokkori and Kirby. She opened it and gasped at the strange sight.

"What in the Leopard Goddess is _that?!" _She had seen a somewhat blurred picture of this one, but she hadn't thought it would look like _this._

"Poyo poyo poy poyopoy!" The pink ball purred and walked over to Siliver and hugged her leg.

"Uh…" She choked, shaking the parasite from her.

"Fuwwy poyo!" It squeaked, pointed at Siliver.

"What in the name of Dreamland is _that?!" _A dirty green bird fluttered down and went right into Siliver's face.

"Back off, feather beast!" The bounty huntress hissed, paw moving toward her sword although she knew she wasn't to hurt it.

"Feather beast? That's a first!" Tokkori laughed until he fell from the air onto the ground, "You've never seen a _bird?" _

"No." She answered, her emerald eyes peered closely at the unknown creature.

"HA! The mutant leopard hasn't ever seen a _BIRD_!" Tokkori continued rolling on the floor, laughing his head off. Siliver had a mind to just walk up and eat it but all bounty hunters know they must stand true to their word, unless a better deal arrives.

She turned her attention to the pink ball.

"Hey, pinky, what are _you?" _She peered at him closely.

"Poyo!" Kirby squealed.

"You're a poyo?" She questioned.

"Kirby poyo!" It tried again.

"Aha! You're a Kirby!" She guessed. The ball shook its body and tried again.

"Kirby name poyo!" It chirruped. Siliver got the message.

"So, your name is Kirby. Hi there, Kirby! I'm Searclaw Shadowstalker Dragonfang. You can call me Siliver for short." She held out a paw and the little ball grabbed it in its stubby paw and shook.

Siliver then left. She walked into the next door and found the penguin guy trying to put together a broken club, and failing terribly. It looked up and barked;

"Hey, who are you!"

"I am Searclaw Shadowstalker Dragonfang, Siliver for short. I am a bounty huntress sent to capture Meta Knight but the knight got me on his side." She was getting tired of introducing herself.

"Well then, Searclaw Shadowstalker Dragonfang, come here and fix my club." The bounty huntress thought for a moment, she hated being commanded by others, but this thing was a king no matter if Meta Knight said she was a higher rank or not.

"If you give me something out of it, I shall."

"No! I'll give you nothing except my thanks." The king snapped.

"Fine then, I'll leave you and your club to fail." She said turning on her heel and swishing her spiked tail once. The king choked.

"Fine, fine! I'll give you a handful of coins! Now get over here and fix this club right now!" The king hoarsely croaked. Escargon watched in amusement as he parted with a handful and the bounty huntress grabbed the club, turned around and quickly got to work. Using her claws, a bounty huntresses' wits, and a few items she always carried around for emergencies, she soon turned around and gave the club to the king. It looked as good as new.

"See ya, penguin." Siliver laughed as she left the room. Now, to the control room.

* * *

"Hey, Mety, what's with the arcade?" She hollered. She noticed Meta Knight flinched when she said; 'Mety' and she noticed the two knights at his side flinched when she said; 'arcade'.

"What arcade?" He asked, not moving from the controls.

"The one down the hall, by Kirby and the feather thing's room."

"You mean Sword and Blade's work area? What arcade? There is no arcade on the ship."

"But-"She was cut off as Sword and Blade tackled her. Sword whispered in her ear; "Hush, he doesn't know about it! Please, don't tell!" The huntress ignored the desperate knights.

"I saw one, and that little boy was playing in it."

Meta Knight pressed the 'autopilot' and opened his wings. The huntress gasped at that. Meta Knight flew up to where she was and asked her;

"Show me."

She nodded and motioned for him to follow. The two knights sighed too each other and walked away.

"See ya at our funeral."

Siliver and Meta Knight disappeared down the hallway.

* * *

"See this door?" Siliver pointed to the door that had the three signs. Meta Knight read them all and his eyes flashed orange for a second. Siliver gasped at this, too. "Y-your eyes!"

"I know." He answered plainly. He opened the door and entered the arcade. Bun immediately hid, as did Kawasaki who was farther down.

"See?" The huntress immediately wanted to take those words back for she sounded like a child who's lollipop was taken away because her little brother claimed it to be his and she had found evidence that it was really hers.

"I will have a talk with Sword and Blade." Meta Knight said sweetly. It was his 'I'm-about-to-loose-my-head-and-kill-somebody' voice. He then left, without another word.

"Oh, god." Sword whispered to Blade when Meta Knight entered the control room.

* * *

"Is there anything fun to do here?" Siliver grumbled, leaving the arcade. She hunted around until she found a door that she hadn't found before. She opened it. There was a kind of tunnel leading downward. She slipped through it. It ended in another door. She opened it and peeked inside. It was completely dark. She entered.

She felt around and found a light switch. She flipped it and light dimly lit the room. It was a garage. A large display of warships was parked here. She saw sleek sliver jets, bulky battleships equipped with huge cannons and rockets, small transporters with flimsy blasters, and many, many more. Her emerald eyes lit on a sleek black jet. There were three to the left of the silver ones. She quietly sneaked over to it, her paws not making a sound. She examined one. It was beautifully made, better than any on her home planet. She stroked her paw across the polished surface.

Not a speck of dirt came off. She couldn't help herself and she slipped inside, peering at the controls. They were complicated, but she had flown worse. The seats were finely made as well. She was surprised at the strength of the ship's weapons; jets are usually just built for speed. Whoever had made this ship was skilled in the arts. _My own ship would be put to shame next to this._

_God I can't believe myself, I just come here and already I have gotten myself into a new team, and now I am thinking about a new ship! How would Meta Knight react if I walked up to him and said 'hey, I like your black jet ship, can I have it?' yeah, not likely. _She looked at the jet again; she couldn't tear herself away from it.

"You like this ship?" She flew around, never, _ever, _in her life had she been surprised. _Never. _And now, Meta Knight had done so.

"Y-yes, why aren't you off steering the ship?

"Autopilot."

"Oh, well yes, I really do love this ship, who made it?" I answered, trying to change the subject.

"I did." He answered calmly, never changing his emotions.

"You did?! I didn't know you could make ships!"

"Well, I made the Halberd, and I made these, so, if I could say so myself, I think I can make ships."

"You made the Halberd?!?!?!" She choked.

"Yes I did. And for your serves of risking your life for us I should like to give you this ship along with the gems." Meta Knight watched as her emerald eyes widened.

"You'd really just give me the ship?"

"Yes, you're risking your life for us."

"Wow, thanks!" She purred happily. She then turned back to the ship. _If I ever prayed to you, Leopard Goddess, then now I'll pray my thanks. This is better than any ship I could find at any planet, and I get it for free! _When she turned around, the knight was gone.

* * *

Meta Knight peered into the mirror screens of behind, above, below, and to the sides of the ship. He saw movements.

"Sword, Blade, we're being tracked." Sword and Blade had been relieved that Meta Knight had only suspended all time in the arcade and that they have to stay working at the ship until he releases them.

"What? Tracked?" Blade called, trying to hide his excitement.

"Yes. Nightmare's ships have found us. There's going to be a battle." He turned on the intercom.

"Everyone, please report to the Control Room immediately."

Soon, everyone was here. That includes Siliver who had torn away from her new jet.

"We are being tracked. There is going to be a battle. Get your weapons and be prepared. Tokkori, Bun, Fumu, Kawasaki, and Escargon go into there. You'll be safe there." He pointed to a room that had looked like a part of the wall. It had opened revealing a safely guarded room with high defense. It even had screens showing the ship and what's happening. Bun, Kawasaki, Tokkori and Escargon obeyed, but Fumu stood still as stone.

"I don't want to be like a princess in distress! Give me a weapon!" She roared. Meta Knight refused.

"Please, this is for your safety. You don't know how to wield a sword or mace or whatever."

"Fine!" She was very pissed, but she entered the room. It closed as soon as she put her foot in.

"Now, are you ready?" Meta Knight asked.

"Yes, sir!" Sword and Blade answered, gripping their weapons. Kirby just 'poyoed' and the others nodded.

"I shall show them we have spotted them."

Meta Knight then started back on the controls. They could barely hear him speak something into a mike, but he did and suddenly, he started on a totally different area of keys.

"They are attacking, Sword and Blade put up shields and start attacking, the more we can get by the Halberd's weapons the less we'll have to fight." He commanded. They quickly obeyed. Soon, the whole ship was in action. Five smaller ambush fighters flew at the Halberd. Two were quickly shot down by the Halberd's superior strength.

The other three continued forward, the shields came on and two of the fighters smashed into the force field, burning and then blasting into a thousand pieces. The last one was joined by six others. Sword released homing missiles, they tailed three of the seven fighters who were all bombing and shooting at the shield. One lost its wing and fell from the sky, falling into the depths of space. The second lost an engine and fell to a likewise fate.

The third was able to counter the missile with a missile of its own. Five ships still stood, fighting the shield of the Halberd. Blade charged the main beam of the Halberd while Sword continued with the homing missiles. The missiles got two ships while the others were skilled and survived. One more fighter joined the three more experienced ones. The main beam was released and caught two ships in its mighty orbit; they burned and disintegrated, completely disappearing. Then, the shields went down.

The two fighters' did not attempt to destroy the mighty ship, but came in to board, and board they did.

"Two fighters have released their load on the Halberd's deck. We must meet them out there." The team of Meta Knight, Sword Knight, Blade Knight, King Dedede, Waddle Doo, the Waddle Dees, Siliver, and Kirby moved out to the deck of the Halberd.

***

Sorry about the cheap ship vs. ships fighting scene, I am not that good at describing ship fights. Hope you enjoyed anyways! Action in the next chapter, finally! Read + Review please!!


	15. Failing

**Warning: Serious Violence. **This is a short chapter, completely a battle scene.

Disclaimer: Same as always. I own no one except my OCs.

***

"God, this is boring." Fumu complained, all they could do is watch the screens which were empty except for the normal. Even the Control Room was empty.

"Whoa, look at the deck!" Bun interrupted, pointing to one of the screens.

"Wha- Holy Guacamoly!" Fumu gasped as two fighter ships that were in the shape of silver crescent moons neared the Halberd's Landing Deck. Three black spiderlike legs came out from the bottom of the ships and both fighters landed.

"That's not good." Escargon dreaded. The hatches on the ships flew open and four demon beasts left each ship. One was a black dragon, larger than the others. Vast black wings stretched on either side, flames crackled in its red eyes. Its tail has a diamond shaped black jewel on it, sharpened to the finest point. Two fangs on the upper and lower lip of the dragon gleamed evilly in the pale moonlight. (from a nearby moon.)

It shook its crest (the horns on a dragon's crest grow in as the dragon ages. The more horns, the older the dragon. The crest is located on the dragons head.) Which had fourteen points, branching backward. It roared a sound which vibrated down the Halberd and even rang inside the safety room.

"I-I'm scared, sis…" Bun whimpered.

"D-d-don't worry, we have Meta Knight and K-Kirby to protect us, a-along w-with t-t-that S-Siliver." He stuttered, fearing as well.

"You're scared!" Bun accused.

"Am not!" Fumu caught herself.

* * *

The team of warriors poured onto the landing deck. They peered at their eight enemies. One was a mighty black dragon, two were lesser lizard warriors, another was a giant green, scaly bird with a wicked gleam in its red eyes, there was a bear like creature with a feathery tail and bat wings, a ninja armed with a bow, a quiver slung over its back, a small frog with tiny purple bat wings, and another archer armed with a beautifully crafted bow, although not nearly as beautiful as the bounty huntresses'.

Quickly, the warriors got into defensive positions. There was a moment when everyone was completely still. Not a finger moved, not even did they breathe. The silence was interrupted when the enemy archer loosed an arrow which sailed through the air, but was stopped by Galaxia which made it fall and clatter to the ground. Then, the battle commenced.

Archer vs. Archer, arrows sailed through the sky; Siliver soon triumphed over the demon archer, a venomous arrow felling it. She turned around and drew her sword to help Meta Knight with the black dragon that showed obvious authority. King Dedede clubbed off one of the lizard warriors who were wielding a spear, his club hit its skull and it shattered, the creature fell limp onto the ground. Kirby inhaled the spear and became Sword Kirby, and then he joined the fray. Waddle Doo and his Waddle Dees combated the bear; Waddle Doo held the creature at bay as the two Waddle Dees scored on its furry flanks, only to be batted away by one of its powerful paws.

* * *

Sword and Blade worked as a team and fought the scaly bird, but the bird was a wicked fighter, eyes gleaming with blood lust. One of the creatures talons snatched Blade in its grasp, clutching him it began to squeeze, he gasped in pain, unable to lift his sword. Sword, realizing his danger, leaped and sank her sword deep into the bird's talon. It screeched angrily and released Blade who dropped to the ground, gasping for breath. He then shakily stood and continued to face the angered demon whose talon dripped hot red liquid.

* * *

Meta Knight opened his wings and leaped into the sky, flying at the dragon's head. It roared again and released a huge blast of flames which leaped and flickered around him, but he dodged the deadly fumes. He then flew back at its nose, like an angry bee and sliced deep into the dragon's soft nose. It roared in pain and snatched Meta Knight from the air in its jaws. Crushing him with razor sharp teeth. An arrow whistled through the air and struck the dragon under its armored jaws, in the soft area.

Roaring in pain, it released Meta Knight who immediately returned to his assault, driving his sword into the dragon's neck, cutting deep and letting blood bloom from the wound. Finished playing, realizing the enemy was no toy, the dragon leaped into the air and faced Meta Knight in its own element, while Siliver shot arrows from the ground, unable to fly. And so while the units fought down below, commander vs. commander battled in the sky's realm.

* * *

Dedede battled the second lizard warrior, the spear out distanced the club and sent Dedede into a cursing fit, but the club was stronger than the spear. They swung at the same time and met in the air, the club's strength smashing the spear into a thousand pieces. Unarmed, the warrior backed up, eyes widening when the club caught it across its neck, snapping it instantly. He turned to see a sword up against his neck.

"S***!!" He cursed, he had forgotten about the ninja. He closed his eyes, waiting for the worst…

Kirby flew to the rescue and released a sword beam at the ninja. Needing to block the blow, the ninja pulled his sword from Dedede's throat. But Kirby was surprised that the ninja _did _block it. His sword caught the beam and the beam slowly disintegrated. Kirby jumped in, sword of the ninja clashing with Kirby's. The ninja was more experienced than any demon he had ever fought before, every blow was incredibly forceful, and he felt himself backing up.

He had only fought a being with such strength in every blow once in his life, and that being was Meta Knight. The ninja's skill was amazing, and soon Kirby was losing steam.

* * *

The bear creature was bleeding heavily from all the gashes on its sides, but Waddle Doo was starting to fall, he defended every slash the bear brought at him, but his stubby arms were slowing down. The Waddle Dees realized this and tried to catch the bear's attention, but its wings snapped out and they were thrown to the side. The Dees _were _able to shred the wings to tatters, but that seemed to only increase the bear's wrath.

Siliver, realizing her teammates were in trouble, turned away from the battle in the sky to come to the closest ones rescue. She drew her net and swung it like a frizz bee at the bear, it increased in size as it flew and wrapped around it like a package. The beads came into action and electrocuted the bear. But it was able to shred the net, although now it was severely weakened and the smell of burning flesh lingered in the air. Its fur was burning and the tail feathers were sizzling.

Waddle Doo brought his sword down on the bear's head, but it snapped its head up and caught the sword in its teeth, bearing down on the metal to crush it.

* * *

Kirby continued to hold off the ninja's terribly forceful attacks, each one made him give a small 'poyo!' in vain. Dedede realized his savior was in trouble and rushed to the rescue, his hammer swung heavily, but the ninja sped around for a moment, sinking his sword in the wood and yanking side to side, and then forward and with one last powerful jerk, the hammer went flying from the king's grasp. Then it turned, kicking the king in the stomach and sending him flying, back to Kirby to finish the ball off.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sword and Blade struggled with the giant green bird, which screeched and clawed at them. Sword jumped up and sliced a talon from its claw, it fell and clattered to the ground, blood welled from the wound and the bird gave a hellish scream and flew at Sword, while Blade stumbled over, clutching his sword in one hand and his stomach in the other, and cut some tail fathers off as it sped by. _I think I broke a few ribs, dangit! _Blade realized.

Sword blocked a heavy blow from the giant bird, and then struck; sinking her sword into the bird's leg, it cut through the bone and the bird heaved and screamed into the night, leaving Blade to be able to jump onto its back. Slowly, clutching his stomach in one gloved hand and a handful of scaly feathers in the other, he inched up the bird, his sword in its sheath. Just then a clatter of metal on metal was heard below him and a shriek of terror, Sword was unarmed. The bird, oblivious to the knight climbing up its back, came in to the kill.

Blade clenched his teeth, held onto the bird with one hand, and with the other grasped his sword, in immense pain he unsheathed it, lifted it to the sky for a moment, letting the dim moonlight reflect on its polished surface, and then drove it deep into the monster bird's heart.

* * *

Waddle Doo blocked attack after attack of the injured and wrathful bear, he then kicked it hard on its nose, and it retreated in pain, giving Waddle Doo a chance. He leaped forward and drove his sword into the bears head. Its eyes bulged, but it held on. Its fire red eyes turned glassy as it continued to fight in its dying moments. A monstrous paw bashed Waddle Doo and he flew into the air, crashing against the Halberd, and sinking to the ground momentarily unconscious. Then blood filled the bear's mouth and its eyes rolled back in its head as it died.

* * *

Kirby whimpered as he faced the ninja, its power confused him. He had never fought something with such strength. Suddenly, their sword met and held, each pushed with all their strength as sparks flew from the pressure.

"We meet again, Kirby!" The ninja growled wrathfully from between clenched teeth.

"P-p-poyo?" Kirby gasped, confused.

"You don't remember me? Oh, what a pity," the ninja jerked forward, sending Kirby off balance.

"Poyo!" Kirby cried out as the ninja maneuvered for the final rush.

"You must die knowing who I am, Kirby!" The ninja roared as he leaped into the sky, "I AM YAMIKAGE!"

Then, the pain hit.

***

MUHAHAHAHA!!! Cliffhanger!!! ^.^

Please review, I really enjoy reading comments! Thanks in advance!


	16. Meta Knightmare

Back! Read + Review! Not much else to say.

Same Disclaimer

***

A flash of deep black and the Soulgem on the tip of the dragon's tail (Soulgem= a jewel on the tip of a dragon's tail. It forms over the dragon's life time and will shape according to the dragon's soul.) caught Meta Knight's shoulder plate, sending him spinning. But he recovered and flew toward the dragon's unarmored belly. The dragon whip cracked its tail forward and lashed the knight again, but Galaxia flashed upward and sank deep into the flesh.

The dragon ignored pain and yanked its tail away, Meta Knight barely could hold onto Galaxia. The dragon shot blast after blast of burning flames, leaping from its jaws and extinguishing only when it touched the cold metal of the ship. Meta Knight dodged every blast easily, but after the rally was over his cape was singed. Meta Knight then released a monstrous Sword Beam that crackled with shadow energy, it blasted forward, and pure power seemed to dance before their eyes.

But the dragon, cold and calculating, flipped backward nearly snapping its backbone and dodged the death blow. It's cold, menacing eyes seemed to smile evilly at Meta Knight as its pearly white teeth glimmered and reflected terror.

"Meta Knight, look down upon the battle field, look down and see your fallen comrades, they have all been defeated. Look down, and feel their pain!" It bellowed at him. He peered below him in shock, indeed they all were sprawled on the battle field, except for the Waddle Dees, Sword and Blade, and Siliver.

"No! Kirby, Dedede, Waddle Doo!" He turned toward the black dragon, anger flashing in his eyes which turned a deep maroon red.

_"Yes, yes, let your anger swell and bloom, come, come young mortal, come and face your worst Nightmare!" _The dragon started to chant, eyes capturing the angered knight, shadow energy crackled from the dragon's scales. The beat of its massive wings soon turned into a mesmerizing beat.

_"Let your fear consume you whole, let the pains of the past free from your dark heart!" _It continued, keeping the beat, keeping the knight paralyzed. It grinned evilly, a rare thing for a dragon, as it fed from the knight's past fears and terrors.

_"__Let the hate free, let the pain consume, let the destruction reign, let your nightmares become true!" _The dragon finished in a roar that shook the very Halberd itself, the knight was paralyzed completely. The black dragon peered deep into the knight's fears and found the deepest one. It reflected it in its blood red eyes.

He saw, he had too. He couldn't pull away. The dragon grinned again, feeling the knight's distress. It started to be transformed by the fears and shadows, it grew bigger, its horns grew longer and sharper as did its claws, and its very form became distorted by the shadows.

"Meta Knight, you cannot escape your fate! ~o' prince of demon beasts~ your true destiny is pulling your soul! You are not meant to preserve this miserable universe, but to destroy it!" It hissed, snaking its head forward, holding the knight by the terrible image in its blood red eyes.

Suddenly, a beautifully crafted arrow whistled through the air and struck the dragon in one of its eyes. It screamed in pain and anger, a sound that screeched like fingernails on a chalkboard (Yes, I have freakishly long fingernails and when I was younger I wanted to see if it would work. Terrible, terrible story, might I add.)

The arrow shocked Meta Knight into tearing his eyes away from the eyes of the dragon. Seizing the dragon's shriek of pain for an advantage and ignoring the terrible sound the boomed around him, he leaped forward and drove the sword deep into the dragon's chest. Its one remaining eye turned glassy and it turned to look at the knight. The shriek still echoed along the walls of the Halberd.

"Thank you, my prince, for freeing me. The others, they still live."

Suddenly, the creature's eyes turned a golden glow and it fell from the sky and crashed onto the deck of the Halberd, scales cracked from the weight. The commander of the enemy had fallen.

* * *

Having done well with her arrow's aim, Siliver turned to Kirby who lay sprawled on the ground. He could see immediately that the small ball was still alive, just wounded badly. She ran quickly to his side and helped him to his feet. He had lost the copy ability. Yamikage was watching with amusement in his red eyes.

"Now, now, what is this?" He hissed, walking forward slowly. She gripped her sword's hilt and unsheathed it, holding it in defensive stance. The ball stood and stumbled to her side. Before she knew what he was doing, Kirby grabbed one of her arrows from her quiver and swallowed it.

"Kirby! Was that necessary?" She snapped, unaware of Kirby's special ability. He quickly turned into Cutter Kirby. Side by side the bounty huntress and the small pink ball faced the evil ninja.

Cutter Kirby threw his boomerang and the Ninja dodged it, while Siliver brought her sword down on his other side. With a second to spare he blocked it with his sword and then spun around to block the boomerang while Siliver was able to briefly strike his back. He growled in pain and when the boomerang came again he leaped into the air, grabbed his shurikens and threw them at the two. Kirby poyoed in pain while Siliver rolled to the side and dodged them.

The boomerang caught the ninja's foot and he tripped falling to the ground. Siliver quickly made for the kill but he rolled to the side in time before throwing shurikens at them. One stuck one of the huntress's forepaws and pinned it to the ground. She bared her fangs behind her mask and lashed out with her tail, stabbing the ninja with one of the spikes. Kirby tossed his boomerang again and it missed by a hair's length as the ninja rolled to the side.

Siliver yanked the shuriken off her and got to her feet again. She drew her bow and shot burning arrows, lit from a lighter she always carried with her, at Yamikage who nimbly dodged them. Kirby grabbed his boomerang and ran forward with a cry, holding the boomerang like a sword. Yamikage easily struck the boomerang from Kirby's grasp and turned to the huntress. He drew his shurikens again and struck out with them. They cut the air like bullets, but the arrows were faster.

In mid air they met. With a sharp note that rang out over the battle field, rousing Waddle Doo and Dedede, the arrow survived. The shuriken fell to the ground with a clatter, dented out of shape. The arrow pierced through the air toward the surprised ninja. Kirby lashed out with his boomerang, and it sped toward him as well. The ninja shut his eyes.

_'Yamikage. There are two paths which spread out before you. Each path has a different destiny for you. One path shall lead to your demise by the swiftest arrow, greater than any other. The other shall lead to you being king over a large land, peace and unity spread by your hand.' The fortune teller opened her eyes and stared into the cold eyes of the ninja._

_'What you say is rubbish! I have no 'two paths' I have only one! That one is to be ruler of the galaxy by Nightmares side!" He then kicked the table and it capsized, the small crystal ball fell to the ground and shattered. He then turned and stormed away. _

He opened his eyes to see an arrow, as fast as the fastest bullet speeding toward him, cutting the air like a knife through butter. It was beautifully crafted. _Greater than any other. _The metal head, sharpened to the finest point. The black feathers gracefully sailing behind. _Did I choose the wrong path? _

Then arrow pierced heart, boomerang struck home, and Yamikage lost his life.

* * *

But even with the demons sprawled on the ground, dead, and the warriors breathing heavily and suffering from numerous wounds, the battle was not yet over. Seven demons lay lifeless. There had been eight.

A small frog with tiny black bat wings stood among the chaos. It watched with large eyes and looked over every warrior. Everyone was wounded. It rested its eyes on Kirby. It happily hopped over to him and stared into the little star warrior's eyes.

"Poyo?" he questioned, cocking his head.

"Croyo." The frog croaked. It then leaped onto Kirby.

It sank into him, and Kirby's eyes turned red. Meta Knight stood shakily, as did the rest. He was the only one to noticed, though.

"Kirby! He has been possessed by the Devil Frog, again!" Meta Knight called out.

Kirby, hearing his mentor's voice, turned on him. He leaped at Meta Knight, and Meta Knight merely flew into the sky, out of his reach. Kirby growled angrily and tried to attack him, but couldn't. Just as all his comrades couldn't attack Kirby. Meta Knight saw the wings and aimed Galaxia at that point, flying down and striking it. Kirby poyoed in pain but the frog held on and Devil Kirby began to inhale. Meta Knight easily staying in the air.

* * *

"Uh oh! Not Devil Kirby again! Hey, sis, didn't they need you to call Kirby to get that frog out last time? Come on, let's go!" Bun grabbed his sister's hand and barged out of the safety room. Escargon, Tokkori and Kawasaki were bored of waiting around in the room and hurried behind them.

They entered the deck area to see Kirby pinned down by his mentor.

"Kirby! Nock out of it, Kirby!" Fumu screamed.

"Fumu! What are you all doing out here!" Meta Knight gasped, holding down the struggling Devil Kirby.

"Saving you!" She snapped back and continued calling Kirby's name.

For half a second Kirby took over and Devil Frog was on his back. That half second was when Meta Knight jabbed it and threw it off Kirby's back. Dedede then trapped it under a cup that he always carried around. He then slowly moved the cup until it was at the end of the deck and tossed it out into nothingness. Everyone was deeply wounded. But even now, with all eight demons gone, the battle was not over.

* * *

A thunderous roar boomed out like a whip crack, like a vast storm it bellowed. The roar was familiar. A huge claw the size of a mountain crashed down on the Halberd's metal deck. Then another, and then another. They were talons. One of the talons was snapped, only half the claw was still intact. Then another set of talons crashed onto the deck. Then, the creature hauled itself onto the deck.

It was the Shadou, but yet, it was not.

Where soft brown feathers should be, or at least maroon scales, there was torn flesh and dried blood. Where two mighty wings should branch, covering the sky itself was bleached white bones with a coating of dried blood and torn flesh. Its lion part was bloodied, fur was missing everywhere and where there was some, it was twisted into bloody horns. Its tail was broken, the tuft of fur at the end was missing and in its place was a huge club of bone. Very few claws or talons were still intact.

One of the Shadou's ears was shredded to a mass of bloody fur; its one eye was clouded in pain and anger. In many places, bones stuck out from the tight skin of the lion eagle.

"W-w-what h-happened t-to i-it?!" Fumu gasped, eyes wide in terror and disbelief. A huge and mighty voice thundered out over the Halberd, it was half lion roar and part eagle screech, pain and rage showed through as the torn and tattered griffin's eye flashed an angry, cold, red.

"What happened? The Prince of Demons, distorter of the worlds and creator of the dimension! Terror sewer, hate bringer, blood spiller!" It surveyed them until its cold eye fell upon Meta Knight.

"Huh? You can talk?" Bun questioned, the answer was clear so it didn't answer.

"Prince of Demons?" Fumu asked, feeling that the torn griffin was not about to attack.

"Prince of Demons! The grandest creation of Nightmare and it will always be. It was created a few thousand years ago, in darkness. Nightmare took thousands of years just to make it, and it came out so perfect that it even had its own soul and being. Power snapped and crackled around it, shadow energy. The demon prince did everything greater than any being, it would fly faster than the fastest arrow, fight with such speed none could match, anyone who opposed him died. The only one who could command him and live was Nightmare himself.

But, even that started to waver. The demon was getting stronger faster than any had before, and Nightmare was getting worried that the demon would pass even his abilities. After all, the prince of demons had been given amazing abilities, like being able to distort reality, twist truths, and even the ability to create. In his path, destruction followed. Nightmare was worried, very worried. In the end, Nightmare banished his prince into the nether, and told him that only when he died would the prince come back and be able to claim the throne.

The prince was angered like never before, he destroyed planets, stretched chaos in every direction. When finally his soul changed, he put aside his incredible powers and decided to destroy his former master. He joined the GSA ranks and quickly rose to the title of commander. His fighting skills were unmatched. Any demon he fought was killed. The more he killed, the farther his abilities left him. But soon the GSA collapsed in flames and the prince barely survived. Everyone he had known had died.

His once most loyal guard and faithful servant tracked him down. She had been on his trail for thousands of years, and finally she had found fresh tracks. They fought, and the prince won, although his powers leaving him were weakening him. He found a new planet and lived there, but his foolish act of leaving the demon killing was going to be his downfall. The abilities started to return.

Now, Nightmare is dying and the prince is making his way back to the demons to claim his throne and kill his old master. He is on this very ship. Without knowing, right now you are leading a new Nightmare to where he can come to power. I have been sent to kill the prince, and if you would like the Holy Nightmare Co. to crash and burn, you should move way and let me." It explained the long story.

"WHAT?! The Prince of Demons is on the Halberd? Where?" Fumu, Bun, Kawasaki, Dedede, Waddle Doo, Escargon, Siliver, Tokkori, Sword and Blade all gasped. Dedede smirked and whispered; "Jinks."

The Shadou lifted its head high and peered out over the crowd, in its eyes was a glimmer of flames as if after long years victory would finally come, and it would.

"You want to know who on the Halberd is the Prince of Demons, are you sure?" The Shadou grinned evilly. Only Fumu, Sword and Blade and Siliver did not continue, for they caught onto the Shadou's plan.

"Yes!" Bun, Kawasaki, Dedede, Waddle Doo, Escargon, and Tokkori all exclaimed.

"The Prince of Demons is…" The Shadou peered over them all until his eyes rested on Meta Knight who was staring at him with blood red eyes, hateful and wrathful.

"Meta Knightmare."

***

Oooooo Cliffhanger again! Poor Mety is pissed. So, is the Shadou's story true? Will anyone step to Mety's defense? Or will they leave him for the Shadou?

Please review!!!!!!!!! I soooooo enjoy reading reviews, tell me if you think I should change something or if you like it the way it is, I just really enjoy reviews!

And sorry that I killed Yamikage, I just had to kill him or else Kirby or Siliver would die and Siliver isn't supposed to die… yet…


	17. Crystal of the Demon of Flames

OMG I am soooooo sorry for that terrible wait!!!!!!!!! My computer fell off my desk and crashed, so I couldn't update for awhile. Please don't hate me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

***

"Meta Knightmare."

The words hung in the air like ice. Not one creature moved. The whole world seemed to freeze up in seconds. The shadou laughed a sound that sent chills down the assembled spines.

"How does it feel, Knightmare, to have your secret out? Is the big bad demon scared?" The shadou laughed again at its own joke.

"You… dare..." Meta Knight hissed through clenched teeth, his wings opened revealing their state. They looked like shadowy claws and they were larger than usual, too. Meta Knight's blood red eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, and Galaxia turned black as shadow energy coursed through it.

Sword remembered this form. She had seen Meta Knight like this once before, when he had almost killed her.

"… challenge… me?!" The demon within Meta Knight screamed bloody murder as he fixed his gaze upon the shadou.

"Are you sure you want to harm me?" The shadou cooed.

"You can not kill me," Meta Knight roared, "I AM IMMORTAL!"

The air around the shadou seemed to twist and shimmer. There was a sickly snap of bones and the shadou faced him on one leg. It shrieked in pain, unable to fight back.

"Feel the terror of your own black heart…" Meta Knight hissed, he flew into the air, chanting words to himself. Runes appeared on Galaxia as he flew higher. He stopped, hovering. He gripped the sword and drove it though seemingly nothing, then he sliced the air until his sword touched the Halberd's deck.

A ripping sound echoed, like the very air itself had been a curtain. The vortex opened, and a shadow beast crawled out from the dimension of terror, its blood red eyes opened and it slowly took shape of a worm. The tip of the disgusting creature opened revealing rows upon rows of sharp teeth.

"The beast that dwells within shall devour your soul…" Meta Knight hissed.

The worm opened its jaws and tore the shadou's remaining leg right off. The shadou cried out in pain and crumpled to the ground. It slowly disappeared, the bloody remains of the shadou melted until all that was left was a puddle of coiling shadows.

The worm then faded like a ghost, as if it had never really been there at all. The coiling shadows dripped off the side of the Halberd.

"_You may enjoy fear, Meta Knightmare, but look who is afraid of you now…"_

Meta Knight's demon form changed, and his wings folded back under his cape. He stumbled backward, shaking uncontrollably.

"W-what happened?" He choked, his eyes changing back to gold.

The others, who had been standing in shock, eyes wide from confusion, didn't move. Except for Sword and Blade who would remain loyal if Meta Knight turned into a dragon.

"Sir Meta Knight!" They cried in unison, running to his side and catching him as he fell.

He regained his footing, still shaking. He glanced down at Galaxia which had changed back to a gold color. He examined the fading runes in horror before understanding what had happened.

"N-no…" He softly murmured, shutting his eyes.

"Sir?" Blade questioned.

Meta Knight opened his eyes.

"Listen to me now. The others, they must be shocked out of their minds. Tell them it's not true; tell them I am not trying to take any throne. I may have once been the Prince, but not anymore. Control the ship; get it to an uninhabited planet so we can fix it. I have to be alone." He commanded.

Then he covered himself with his cape, and he disappeared into thin air.

* * *

"_I made you, Meta Knightmare, so that you're heart would hold the strongest shadow beast ever to be known. To unlock your true power, you must accept this creature. Only then will your true form come forth."_

"_Shadow beast?"_

"_Yes. The beast inside your heart, fed from your negative emotions. Envy. Jealousy. Hate. Fear. Terror. Anger. Lust. Loath. Pain. Mistrust. Many emotions contribute to the Shadow Beast's powers."_

Meta Knight stood inside his own room. It was dark inside his chamber. He walked to the curtains that hid the vast space from view. He pulled them aside and a small amount of light entered.

_What happened out there?_

He shut his eyes and automatically knew the answer.

_My other side took over. It had almost succeeded in the ritual by the way I feel._

He opened his eyes and looked out into space.

_Now that they know who and what I am, I guess it wouldn't hurt to introduce them to my protector. I can't keep her hidden from them forever, anyways._

He walked briskly to a corner of his chamber. A stone shrine stood, a single green jewel was held in the center by a claw, and five candles surrounded the strange monument.

Meta Knight looked over it, his eyes flashed burgundy and immediately the candles lit. The air around the claw shimmered and twisted as he fixed his gaze upon it. The claw slowly opened.

Meta Knight picked up the crystal and examined it in his palm.

"Protector of Flames, Demon from Hell, your Prince releases you from the chains of hate and anger, come forth faithful servant and serve he whom you betrayed." (Faithful, huh?)

The crystal in his hand glowed. Meta Knight reached his hand out, and dropped the crystal. The delicate jewel flashed as it turned in its fall. The ground sped toward it. The jewel would shatter upon impact. The very metal of the ship seemed to reach out toward it, yearning to destroy it. Wanting to claim it for its own.

But it never did.

The crystal shined, rays of emerald light lit the whole chamber in a giant blast. From within a great beast seemed to rise. A red mist filled the room, and from the center a beast came forth.

A maroon wolf lay upon the floor, its eyes tightly shut. A mane of dark red fur circled its neck, and three spikes sprouted from its back on either side. (So there are six) the jewel rested upon the wolf's head, crowning it.

Slowly, hesitantly, as if waking from a long slumber, the wolf opened its eyes. They emitted an emerald aura, along with them being green. It got to its feet and immediately dipped its head to its Prince.

"_You have freed me." _Its eyes shone with gratitude.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it Wolfwrath?"

***

I plan to start doing longer chapters after this.

-I like the idea of Wolfwrath being a she, so I think I will use that. Once again I apologize for the long wait.

Please REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!! I soooo love reviews!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And if you have any suggestions on my writing, please tell!


	18. Charades

Ok! I haven't put the longer chapter thing into motion yet because I have to leave early today and I can't do it. Sorry for everyone who wanted it now, next time I promise!

Same disclaimer.

***

_Meta Knight is the prince of demons. It must be true. Everything fits. _Fumu nibbled her pencil in thought. _Could he really be after his throne? I wouldn't think he would, it isn't like the Meta Knight I know to do something like that. But, yet again, he might have just been faking all that from the beginning! _She paused, _No… that doesn't work._

_Well, that battle performance was quite freaky. I have to admit I am sort of scared of him. _She stared at the notebook. _But all he has ever been is nice to me and the others…_

_…basically._

Fumu's trail of thoughts was interrupted as her door was slammed open. Bun staggered forward and collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Bun! What's wrong?!" She cried out in surprise, hopping down from her chair and running over to him.

"L-listen, W-Wolfwrath is walking around the sh-ship! _Walking!" _The boy frantically gasped, struggling to his feet.

"Wolfwrath?" Fumu cocked her head, oblivious to her brother's panic.

"Yeah! Come on!" He grabbed her hand and sped off down the hallway.

"Ow! That hurts you _baka!" _She cursed, trying to stay upright while her brother roughly dragged her. He stopped suddenly, causing her to bump into him.

"L-l-look," Bun choked, shakily lifting his arm to point forward.

Fumu looked forward, her mouth popped open and her eyes widened in shock.

Wolfwrath stood before them. Her body rippled with muscle and strength. Her claws were sharpened to the finest point, and her coat shined beautifully. Her glowing emerald eyes watched the two children with curiosity, her furry ears perked forward. The unnatural spikes that rose from her back seemed to glow like hot coals.

Her fur seemed to crackle with energy, her mane seemed to be alive, and every hair rose at the slightest movement. The green jewel that crowned her head sparkled with inner fire. Her head was held high and proud, her fangs slightly showing. But the most surprising thing was not Wolfwrath herself.

_Meta Knight _was _riding _her.

"M-Meta Knight?" Fumu stuttered, unable to comprehend the sight.

"Fumu," He watched her with unemotional golden eyes, "Meet my loyal and faithful servant; Wolfwrath."

"H-hi." She shakily waved her hand at the great wolf who snorted with amusement.

"_Pleased to meet you when we aren't on opposite sides of the battle field." _The great wolf dipped her head quickly.

"Whooooaaaaaa, did he just _talk?" _Bun gawked, eyes widening.

"_I am a she thank you. And who might this ill mannered boy be?" _Wolfwrath eyed Bun wryly.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry f-for his b-bad behavior, he is my b-brother; Bun." Fumu apologized and Bun elbowed her sharply.

The wolf peered at Bun, examining him.

"_Hi." _Wolfwrath imitated Fumu.

"Uh, hi." Bun said. He played around with his fingers behind his back as a bead of sweat ran down his forehead.

"_Nervous are you? Well don't be. My prince has strictly told me not to eat any of the passengers on this ship." _The children sweat dropped.

"Oh-kay." Bun scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Do not worry. Wolfwrath is a mighty ally, not enemy." Meta Knight spoke, "No one is in any danger of being harmed in her presence."

Wolfwrath drooled.

"Uh, we'll be leaving now…" Fumu gripped Bun's arm and slowly inched away.

"_Oh, am I scaring you? My mistake." _The wolf grinned, showing her sharp teeth and long fangs.

"Wolfwrath…" Meta Knight warned.

"_I'm just having a bit of fun! I can't scare you as I can them, its fun." _Wolfwrath whined.

Meta Knight sighed. "You haven't changed a bit."

"And look who was talking about manners…" Bun growled accusingly.

"What in the name of the leopard goddess is going on here??"

The group turned to see Siliver, eyes wide at the giant wolf with a crystal crown on its head.

"Siliver, meet Wolfwrath, my faithful servant and protector." Meta Knight introduced her.

"Um, hi giant maroon wolf with an emerald crown on its head and spikes sticking out of its back." Siliver's spikes on her own back rippled in a wave.

"_Um, hi small black leopard with a mask on its head and spikes sticking out of its back and tail." _Wolfwrath imitated.

"You can talk??"

"_Yes I can, and you are very ill mannered for one of the cat family." _Wolfwrath snorted.

"Well, excuse me!" Siliver snapped, her emerald eyes narrowed.

"_Now, now, don't get angry at me, I'm just here in the background, not able to eat anyone…"_

"Wolfwrath…" Meta Knight warned again.

"_My prince, I remember how you hated that green bird, how about letting me eat that one, small morsel?" _She begged.

"No."

"_The penguin?"_

"No."

"_The snail?" _

"No."

"_You're no fun." _She hissed under her breath.

"Hey, Meta Knight, why not let her eat Dedede and Escargon? No one needs them anyways!" Bun grinned evilly.

"Bun!" Fumu elbowed him sharply.

Meta Knight looked at him and said the incredible answer that not one person in the whole universe could or would have expected at all;

"No."

"Damn." Bun sighed in disappointment.

"Am I interrupting something?" No other than King Dedede himself stood with his hammer in hand gawking at the giant maroon wolf that stood before him.

"Uh, no…" Bun awkwardly fiddled with a long strand of hair.

"_Ah, King Dedede himself dares to show himself before I." _Wolfwrath licked her lips, her pearl white teeth glinting.

"Hey! You're Wolfwrath! You still owe me a dead Kirby!" He snarled, grinding his beak angrily.

"_I already died once trying, sheesh! My prince why do you have so many ill mannered subjects!" _She fixed her gaze on the penguin king.

"_And not to mention being resurrected by my prince and sealed inside my own crystal…" _She glowered.

"I only did so as you had betrayed and tried to kill me." He said calmly.

"_Oh, poor, poor little Wolfwrath trapped inside a crystal for paralyzing my prince!" _She wooed.

"Very faithful and loyal." Bun rolled his eyes and Fumu elbowed him.

"_Shouldn't you be leaving now?" _Wolfwrath snarled.

"Wolfwrath…" Meta Knight sighed, getting tired from warning her.

"_Sorry, my prince. I am acting very rude in your presence and I deeply apologize." _Her tail drooped, ashamed.

The intercom came on;

"Hey! Sword! Is this thing working, or not??" Blade's voice.

"Um I think it is." Sword's voice.

"Oh, ok then… Hey Meta Knight! Can you hear me? If so please come here I think we've found a good planet to land on." Blade's voice.

Meta Knight sighed. Wolfwrath reared and sped down the hallway, towards the control room and leaving the others without a goodbye.

"Bye." Bun hoarsely choked.

"We sure have a weird band on this ship. I mean, a fat penguin," Dedede threatened with his hammer, "A freaky mutant leopard," Siliver snarled, "A snail, A giant wolf, a cook who can't cook, a bunch of one eyed guards, an annoying sister," Fumu elbowed him, "The prince of demon beasts, a pink ball, two knights in training, and a green bird. Wow." Bun commented.

"And what are _you _supposed to be?" Fumu hissed.

"The sane one."

* * *

"Sir! Oh my god…" Sword stammered.

"Sword, Blade meet my not-always-so loyal and faithful servant; Wolfwrath." Meta Knight was starting to get tired of introducing her.

"H-hi." Blade stuttered.

"_Hello, young knights. I am sorry for the conditions of our last two meetings." _She dipped her head respectively.

"It… just talked…" Sword croaked.

"Yes yes, now what about this planet?" Meta Knight grew impatient.

"Oh yes, you remember Tranviline? Well that's the closest planet." Blade explained.

"Fine. Tranviline it is. You two will have to warn the others of the hostile creatures in Tranviline's forests." Meta Knight nodded.

"Yes, sir!" They both saluted.

"Go now. I shall direct the ship."

"Yes, sir!" They both saluted and then hurried out the door.

Meta Knight jumped off of Wolfwrath's back and landed gracefully on the ground. He then turned to face her.

"Wolfwrath, you may be dismissed."

"_Yes, my prince." _She bowed before scampering off.

Meta Knight strode over to the central controls and hopped into his seat. Quickly he began directing the mighty Halberd toward Tranviline.

* * *

"Kirby, Kirby, KIRBY!" Tokkori screeched, huddling against the wall in fear.

"_Hmm, so very tempting to just eat you, but my prince has directed me not too…" _Wolfwrath loomed over Tokkori, saliva dripped from her jaws as they began to creak open, her teeth and long fangs shined and Tokkori's eyes widened in horror.

"…_maybe just this once." _Her jaws opened, ready to snap the fearful bird right up.

"What in the name of the lord is going on here?!" Blade stood in the doorway.

"_Shoot!" _Wolfwrath recoiled from the terrorized bird and acted like she hadn't been doing anything.

"Th-that THING just attempted to MURDER ME!" Tokkori shrieked, obviously terrorized.

"_What are you talking about, little tasty morsel, I was just here to say hi." _Wolfwrath played dumb.

"Wolfwrath! I though Meta Knight told you _not_ to eat anyone on the ship! _What are you doing?!_" Blade gasped.

"_I told you I wasn't doing anything!" _She begged.

"Yeah right you sniveling dog! You tried to kill me!" Tokkori accused, frantically pointing a wing at her. Wolfwrath growled and he quieted.

"Well, anyways, we are coming into the hostile planet; Tranviline's orbit. Please be careful when we land." He sighed and left.

"_Yeah, you better be quiet about this. Nothing ever happened." _Wolfwrath snarled. Tokkori nodded vigorously.

* * *

Fumu looked out the huge window of her room. Sword had just come in and told her about the planet; Tranviline. She peered at its landscape as they approached closer. Every second and they came closer to its surface. She saw vast rainforests rich with life and all an emerald green. _What could be so bad about this place? It's so beautiful._

"We are landing on the planet Tranviline now."

Meta Knight's voice came on the intercom.

She watched as the ground raced up to meet her. Suddenly the trees that had looked like specks moments before were towering above her. They had landed in a small clearing.

* * *

Sword, Blade, Wolfwrath, and Meta Knight assembled in the control room. One by one everyone appeared. Soon every single person on the ship was there.

"Alright, come. If you _all _want to see this place, then you _all _will be in danger." Meta Knight walked away and left the ship. A few hesitated before following him outside.

The trees were huge and went up for miles, inside was deep forest, dark and forbidding. Bun walked over to the edge of the clearing and picked up a dark brown stick. He then ran back to the others holding it above his head happily.

Fumu sighed.

Meta Knight, Sword and Blade went back inside the ship and came out holding boxes. They immediately started to repair the ship's deck, as Meta Knight flew them up one by one.

Bun waved the stick around and Wolfwrath snatched it from him, eyes glittering with amusement.

"Hey! Its mine!" Bun cried, trying to get it from the wolf who held it out of his reach. "This is so not cool." Bun grumbled.

"_If it's yours, then get it from me." _Her emerald eyes laughed with pleasure as she tossed it into the air and caught it again.

"No fair! You're bigger than me!" He cried, jumping and trying to grab it.

"_If you're going to be a warrior then you're going to have to be able to get a stick from a wolf, what if an enemy soldier got you're sword? You will have to be able to get it." _Wolfwrath dropped the stick and Bun grasped it. It was covered with saliva.

"Ew! Gross!" Bun winced as he dropped it.

Kirby ran over and poyoed at Bun. He then started randomly waving his arm around.

"Um, Kirby?" Bun cocked his head as Kirby hopped up and down frantically.

"Aha! Charades!" He happily cried, "Um, a humming bird, no, no… ah yes! A dragonfly!"

Kirby frantically started pointing behind Bun.

"No? Oh ok then… a pointer? You know the dog?"

"POYO POY POYO!" Kirby hopped up and down pointing.

"So yes? I knew I'd get it right! Aren't I good, Kirby?"

Suddenly a large drop of saliva fell right in front of Bun.

***

I might be able to get the next chapter in today, might. Soom spring break will be hear and I will make chapters every day for a week :D

That green button down there likes being poked, but I can't reach it. Please poke the green review button for me!

Green Button: "Poke me!"


	19. A Dark, Cold, Weak Voice

I'm back! Here is a bit longer chapter, eh? R+R!

Disclaimer is the same. Freaky things on Tranviline are owned by me tho.

***

"…uhhh…" Bun stared at the giant drop of saliva, "that wasn't charades, was it?"

Two long seconds passed. Bun just stood there shaking uncontrollably; sweat sliding down his forehead and stinging his eyes as they bulged from anticipation and anxiety. Two long seconds. Then, Wolfwrath burst into a laughing fit. Her emerald eyes shut, tears sliding down her furry cheeks as she roared in laughter. Her whole body seemed to tremble from incredible mirth.

(laughing)_ "L-look what Bun," _(laughing fit)_ "m-managed to reel in!" _She laughed so hard she collapsed to the ground. Bun was surprised at this behavior and momentarily forgot his fear and the first thought to cross his head in this amazing situation was;

_A wolf can laugh?_

He then turned around to see what all this commotion was _really _about.

The creature looked like it came right out of a two year old girl's nightmare. It was a bird with a huge head twice the size of Wolfwrath, and it had a body the size of Wolfwrath's paw. Its tiny wings folded at its sides. And, it was pink. The thing cocked its huge head as Bun burst into a laughing fit, tears falling from his eyes.

"Chirrup!" It cried, opening its huge beak once before clacking it together again. The two continued to laugh.

"ChirRUP!" It cried, getting mad. The two just laughed harder.

"CHIRRUP!" It roared, blue eyes tinted with red, it opened its beak and suddenly, the laughing stopped.

"!" Bun scrambled backward, eyes wide.

The creature had suddenly grown huge fangs and teeth in its once empty jaws.

"Aw man, why does everything always have to want to kill us?" Bun choked, the angry fairy tale beast just got more pissed.

It opened its tiny wings and flapped, miraculously rising into the air. It roared again, thundering over their heads and ruffling Wolfwrath's fur. Wolfwrath got pissed at _this. _

"_You dare make a fool of me?! Finally, a good hunt!" _She growled, her snout fixed in a snarl as she approached the giant bird, her fur was bristling and her ears pulled back. Wisps of smoke curled from her jaws.

The nightmare bird just hovered, its tiny talons held forward and its head ready to snap up the intruding creature. It eyed the smoke that seemed to come from the wolf's jaws with curiosity, and a little of something else. Wolfwrath, being the practiced hunter that she is, saw this immediately.

"_Are you afraid of fire?" _She gave a wolf grin and her tongue lolled out in the dog way of laughing.

The bird snapped its beak dangerously close to Wolfwrath's vulnerable nose, but she didn't flinch. Not a bit. In fact, she did quite the opposite. She attacked. With her claws unsheathed, she leapt from the ground, using her hind legs as a spring with which she would be launched into the sky. The bird lifted up, trying to dodge the rocket by gaining altitude, but this was exactly what Wolfwrath wanted.

Quickly, she dug her claws into the bird's body flesh, tearing feathers without meaning too. Her long claws sliced into the bird's flesh as she used the bird itself to hold her own body up. Furious, the nightmare bird strove to peck at the wolf which had been able to hurt it. Wolfwrath then let go of the bird's body, and the bird instead stabbed itself. Screaming in pain, the pink bird then tried to escape the terror which was harming it like nothing it had ever experienced before.

But a predator will never be satisfied without a kill at the end of a hunt. Wolfwrath pulled back her head, taking a deep breath and digging her claws into the ground. Eyes fixed on the retreating bird that could fly very slowly. She then spat a ball of fire into the sky. Like a rocket it shot forward and struck the bird right on its back.

Feathers, my friends, are highly flammable.

Within seconds the creature had transformed from a giant nightmare bird into a ball of crimson flames that plummeted to the ground with a resounding crash. The fire flickered feebly from the impact and went out; leaving a dead and very black form that vaguely resembled a bird.

Wolfwrath grinned and trotted over to the kill and Bun watched with high interest as she dug her snout into the bloody flesh. After she started tearing out slabs of dripping meat, with tendons and bones sticking out and with a sickly smell in the air, he turned away. She dropped it; her snout stained a blood red and cocked her head at him.

"_What? Am I scaring you? I promise I won't be hungry for more after this." _She grinned; her teeth had strings of flesh and one long bloody vein sticking out from the last clump of meat, _"well, I might be…"_

The boy shuddered. Kirby walked over from his hiding place behind a tree and hugged his leg.

"Poy…yoooooo…" He cuddled him, rubbing his head against his pants.

"Kirby!" Bun shoved the pink ball off of his leg.

"Bun! Don't treat Kirby like that; he was just trying to make you feel better!" Fumu walked over and picked Kirby up, she hugged him tightly.

"Geez, don't treat him like a baby! He has to grow up sooner or later!" Bun crossed his arms and looked at the two crossly.

"_Now, now. Don't you go into arguing now? I just was starting to enjoy my meal!" _Wolfwrath look up at the two, a piece of what looked like the huge headed bird's brain hung out from one side of her jaw.

"Eww, that's disgusting!" Fumu cried, turning away and hiding her eyes from the hideous sight.

"_Sheesh, what's with all of you?" _Wolfwrath swallowed it and dug her snout into the corpse again, nosing around for the best parts.

After Wolfwrath popped out one of the thing's eyes and was sucking on a piece of it, everyone except Siliver ended up turning away. The two predators looked at each other with a sense of similarity in their eyes, and then Wolfwrath went back to her kill.

* * *

After awhile, Meta Knight, Sword, and Blade returned to the group.

"We have been successful, but we have a problem. A creature from the outside has escaped into the ship. We must lure whatever it is out so we can take care of it and get going." Sword explained.

"Oh, great." Bun rolled his eyes, "_totally _wasn't expecting this."

"It's big." Blade added.

"Very big." Sword encouraged.

"I _so _wasn't expecting that, either." Bun rolled his eyes again.

"What we are trying to say is that we will need a kind of bait to get the thing out, and I have a good idea of what to use." Meta Knight looked over the crowd before continuing; "The best bet we have right now is live blood bait."

"What are you trying to say?" Dedede raised an eyebrow, _not _expecting this.

"Wolfwrath, you will be the bait."

There was a silence and a sharp intake of breath from the fire demon.

"_M-me?"_ She choked.

"I actually wasn't expecting this!" Bun cried out in excitement, clapping his hands together as Fumu elbowed him.

They decided, after much thought, not to actually draw blood from the wolf demon as she sat uncomfortably at the side of the circle. Bun brought up the idea to use the blood from the bird demon's corpse, and at this Wolfwrath had growled in distaste but the idea stuck the best with the group.

The hard part was to actually make it look real. Siliver ended up being the only one who would go near the bloody half-eaten corpse, as Meta Knight was not as his darker side at the moment. After much work Siliver was able to make her look well beaten and directed her how to hold herself to look like a forepaw was broken, and to keep one eye shut as she made it look like it was wounded shut.

After going a bit overboard with the blood, the others finally got Siliver to stop and they looked over their work. Wolfwrath shifted uncomfortably as they looked over her carefully.

"Ok. Looks good." Dedede nodded in approval.

And so, with a very unhappy Wolfwrath digging her claws into the ground, the group dragged her close to the door. She whimpered slightly, obviously hating this idea. Bun had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing at the sight. She slowly and hesitantly got into her pose and the others hide close by.

The smell of the bird's blood wafted into the air and sure enough the creature in the halberd was attracted like a magnet to it. Right as it poked its head out the door, Wolfwrath gave a startled gasp.

The thing looked like a lion, except it had flower petals around its neck.

"_What in the name of the flame goddess…" _She whispered.

The lion leapt forward, aiming to slay the 'maimed' wolf.

"IS THAT A DANDYLION?!?!" Bun couldn't hold it in any longer.

It halted in mid air, and fell to the ground. Ears perked forward and the lion automatically was aware of the trap.

The hiding group knew they had been discovered and removed themselves from hiding, the ones that could fight did so, the ones that couldn't slapped Bun. Hard.

"Ow! Ow! I'm sorry! Ow!"

Siliver loosed sleek black arrows, each whistled through the air and struck its mark perfectly. The blood trickled from the lion's arrow wounds. Just as it turned to attack the archer, Meta Knight flew overhead and drove his sword into the lion's back, slicing it's spine in half. The lion, unable to move its back half, tried to swat at the knight as more arrows sank into its flesh.

Dedede ran forward and smashed his hammer into the lion as Meta Knight pulled his sword loose. A sickly snap filled the air as the lion's bones were crushed and it hurtled through the air and fell right onto the Waddle Dee's spears. They went clean through its body, sticking out on both sides. The lion could only spit a mouthful of blood before it died.

Kirby blinked twice, as he had not had the chance to do anything.

Wolfwrath shook herself, splattering the bird's blood on the assembled. Then she licked her jaws happily.

"Can I…?"

"NO!" Everyone except Wolfwrath cried out at once.

* * *

They were back in the air. The weird nightmare Tranviline is behind them, now. Fumu started noticing that Meta Knight had been disappearing for long sections of time unexpectedly. At these times Sword and Blade would have to rush to the controls. Whatever happens during those times, Fumu doesn't really want to know. But fate decides these things, not humans. And fate had decided that Meta Knight be a demon, and this fate with decide whether or not Meta Knight will take on and stay in his demon form.

Right now, was one of those times. She heard Sword and Blade run down the hallway and she sighed. She hopped down from her chair, where she found she was usually staying, and walked out of her room. She had not explored so much of the new Halberd, and she didn't even know where Meta Knight's room was. She ought to know. She walked a ways down the hallway until she came to a room she had not explored.

She walked up to it and opened it. Inside was a room, completely empty on all sides. It was small, too. She walked inside, curious. She shut the door behind her instinctively. She saw a dark metal slab of wood to the side of the door. She looked at it to see buttons, or numbers. There were numbers from 1-10. Even more curious, she pressed the button number 7, because she found it to be her lucky number.

The ground beneath her started _moving. _She felt herself moving upwards. She stumbled onto the ground, eyes shut. She found herself screaming. She was shaking in fear as the ground slowed to a stop. She shakily got to her feet and opened her eyes. Another door stood before her. Still wary of the moving room she quickly ran out, slamming the door behind her. Another hallway stretched out before her to either sides. She paused.

_That room just took me to another level. If I am correct, than this would be the 7__th__ floor! If I know all my books, the commander of a ship usually likes to be high. So I should go to the 10__th__ floor. _She turned around and slowly, hesitantly, entered the moving room again. She walked over to the metal slab and this time pressed the 10 button. She prepared herself as the room started to rise.

It slowed after some time and she walked out again. The hallways here were dark and gave her an ominous feeling. She had a feeling that Sword and Blade were not the ones who had made this part of the ship. She walked forward and chose left, she didn't know why. It just felt right. (heh)

As she walked, the ominous feeling in her gut got stronger. There were no doors here. Everything was dark. _And I thought that haunted mansion was scary… _She barely stifled a scream as she saw a creature on the floor in front of her. It had dark fur, and it resembled a wolf. It had a crown on its head. Fumu recognized Wolfwrath, curled up and sleeping on the ground in front of her. The magenta wolf opened its glowing emerald eyes, as if never asleep.

"_Who goes there? State your name and business here or prepare to die." _She growled, clearly not recognizing Fumu in the dark.

"J-just F-F-Fumu…" She stammered, heart beating quickly.

The wolf's eyes widened before closing. She opened them again after a moment.

"_You may pass, young daughter, but be wary." _She whispered before closing her eyes again.

"Wh-what? Wary? Of what?" She stammered, _or who… _she thought, but didn't say anything.

The wolf did not respond for awhile, but then she spoke without opening her eyes.

"_Do not worry, young one, I do not think he will harm you." _She mumbled quietly. She was clearly tired.

_THINK?! _She almost panicked, but her curiosity took over and she carefully picked her way around the sleeping wolf. The hallway seemed to get darker as she walked. The hallway ended with one doorway. It was made of metal completely. She pressed on it and it slowly opened, without a sound. She took one step into the room. It was completely black. She stood there, terrified of the unseen and unknown and realized with horror that the door had closed shut behind her.

"_Who… goes… there…?" _The voice was dark, cold, and weak. As if the holder of the voice was in deep pain, terrible suffering. The voice also sounded somehow familiar, but it was too far away for her to grasp how.

"F-F-F-F-F-Fumu." She stammered for awhile, unable to cover her fear.

She felt a vibration in the ground, as if something in the darkness had stiffened suddenly.

"_You… should… not… be… here…" _The dark voice weakly hissed.

Two narrow slits opened a distance away. They glowed an amber color. They looked a lot like a snake's narrow eyes.

"I'm sorry! I-I didn't know…" Fumu took a step back.

"_You… have… seen… too… much…" _The eyes narrowed more, and they started to change a darker shade until they seemed almost red.

"I'll forget everything! I'll leave!"

"_Too… much…" _It growled lowly in its throat.

"_No! Can… not... harm… her…" _the eyes shut, darkening the whole space. It seemed to be fighting a battle with itself.

Fumu's eyes adjusted to the dark and the creature's faint outline was revealed. She almost screamed, she might have. It was a creature the size of a large war horse. It was scaly, too. She realized what the outline was. _A dragon. A black dragon. I'm talking to a black dragon. _Two vast bat like wings stretched out to either side and four horns rose from its head, sweeping back toward its tail.

"A-a-a d-drag-gon…" She stammered, eyes widening.

"_Fumu, young… mortal, you… have… to… leave. I… cannot… control… myself… much… longer…" _The voice whispered. She realized there was a large wound on its neck, stretching from one side to the other. It was bleeding heavily. The scales around the wound were torn and shattered, broken. She also saw a large collar around its neck with chains holding it. But the wound was what held her attention.

"_Leave! Now!" _The dragon opened its eyes which were a dark, murderous red. It roared in pain and leapt at Fumu. She heard the chains slam to its full length holding it in place. But the dragon was strong, and the chains started to crack. Its claws swept at the air in Fumu's direction. Fumu screamed and ran, slamming into the metal door and quickly shutting it behind her.

She felt pain on her cheek and reached up. She realized she was cut there, and she was bleeding. Its claws must have cut her. She shuddered and ran down the hallway, careful to avoid stepping on the sleeping wolf. She had to tell the others about the dragon. The dragon was dangerous. The dragon could harm someone.

She ran toward the moving room and gasped. Standing right there, leaning on the door way, was Siliver. Her eyes were shut.

"S-Siliver! Am I glad to see you! There is a d-" She was interrupted as Siliver opened her eyes, they were dark and narrowed, silencing her.

"I know. You won't be telling anyone." She hissed.

"B-but…"

"Silence!" Siliver roared. Fumu shrank back. "You _will __**not**_tell _anyone!" _

"Y-yes ma'am." Fumu fearfully stammered. It seemed she had been stammering a lot lately.

"Now, come. We must get you out of here." She reached out and her paw grasped Fumu's arm, pulling her into the moving room. Her paw was furry, soft, like a cat's. _Well, _she paused, _she is a leopard…_

Siliver pressed the 2 button and they started going down. Fumu almost jumped in surprise. _Down too? _It soon slowed to a stop and the door opened as Siliver pressed on it. Siliver nudged Fumu out.

"Go on, young one, go on and do something else, don't worry about anything. You may just forget."

"FORGET?!" Fumu gasped, but she knew she could not argue. She left the room and hurried down to the control room to see if Meta Knight was there. If there was anyone who should know about this, it was him.

She entered it hurriedly, breathing heavily. There he was. He stood there, supervising Sword and Blade.

"Meta Knight!" She called.

He started, jerking in surprise. _Whoa, I surprised him! Well, there's a first for everything, right? _

"F-Fumu." He turned to face her. His cape was wrapped around him.

"Can I talk to you, Meta Knight?" She asked, she took a deep breath.

"Fine." He walked toward her and followed her to her room. Fumu turned and locked to door behind her.

"Meta Knight, I have to talk to you about the top floor." She noticed that he stiffened.

"Yes?" He asked, hesitantly.

Fumu suddenly realized something. His voice. The dragon's voice had been familiar. That meant…

She had a sudden intake of breath.

"That means…"

She lunged forward, taking Meta Knight by surprise. She grabbed his arms and pulled them apart, his cape flying out behind him.

Sure enough, blood was leaking from his mask.

***

Is a big, bad cliffhanger! I don't know why, but I really picture Meta Knight being a dragon. I hope you don't hate me for that!

Review Button: Yeah, yeeeeaaah, nice.

Me: You aren't supposed to be able to say anything more than 'poke me'!

Review Button: Meh.

Me: Poke the damned button! Please! Make him pay!


	20. Beware! Bun is Hungry!

Sorry everyone for the long wait. Pm me for details about it…

Disclaimer is the same as always.

***

Meta Knight tore away, tightly holding his cape around him.

"It's not what it seems." It was all he said as he turned to leave, but Fumu wasn't just ready to let him get away.

"W-wait."

Meta Knight hesitated, and stopped.

"Y-your… a-a dragon?" Her eyes were wide with disbelief, and maybe something else… was it fear?

"No." he answered.

"B-but… the dragon was wounded… and you have the same wound!" She cried out, flinging her arms to the side. Meta Knight didn't turn; he faced away from her as he spoke;

"Shadow beast." He shut his eyes, as the slit in his mask darkened to pitch black.

"Shadow beast? What?" Fumu cocked her head.

"The shadow beasts live within every living creature. Everyone has one; they just don't know they exist. Negative emotions," he opened his eyes, "feed their power. The shadow beasts hate you. They hate you deeply. They will kill you, if they get the chance. That is why you must communicate with them to calm them. So if it escapes it will not slay its host."

"I have one of those 'shadow beast' things?" Fumu asked curiously.

"Yes."

"Well, anyways, you're saying that dragon was a shadow beast?"

"Yes. I was created to hold the strongest shadow beast, the most dangerous of them all. I was also gifted with the ability to communicate with other shadow creatures, by opening the portal to their dimension. Younger ones call this dimension the 'realm of terror' but its true name is not so pathetic. It is 'Shanivinth'."

"Shanivinth?"

"Yes. It means blood realm."

"So that's what you did to the Shadou? You sent out its inner beast?" She questioned.

"Yes."

"Continue please."

"My own shadow creature is a dragon, a black dragon. It reflects my true soul, if you must know. I have communicated with my shadow, and it has accepted me. I can switch places with it at anytime, but it is dangerous. Sometimes it will send a darker form of me to take control, mostly when I am angry. I believe you have met my dark before? Well I must leave now."

Meta Knight started towards the control room.

"Wait! You still haven't told me why you have that wound!"

But he was gone.

* * *

Kirby bounced down the hall. His round, pink feet squeaked every time he placed them on the ground. His bright blue eyes scanned everything for something to play with. He spotted something magenta disappear down a corridor a bit further down the hallway. He scuttled after it.

"Pink poyo!" he chirped, he slid to a stop before the corridor and spotted his new play thing.

A quite large, magenta wolf was walking down the hallway. It had six spines sticking out from its back that seemed to crackle with flaming energy. Kirby saw its ears perk forward, and slowly the great, muscular beast turned.

"_Well, look who we got here," _Upon its head was a emerald green crystal, and its eyes glowed a matching color, _"Kirby." _It hissed.

"Poyo!" Kirby cried happily, he ran forward and hopped onto Wolfwrath's head, covering the great wolf's eyes.

"_Argh! Get off me!" _She shook her head, her mane flew in all directions, catching Kirby's attention.

"Pwetty poyo!" He cried, jumping into her mass of mane.

"_Help me!" _She howled in vain as Kirby started playing with her ears.

* * *

"I'm hungry." Bun sat on the floor of his room, his hands behind his back and a frown fixed on his face. "Very hungry."

He hopped to his feet and peered around. Nothing to eat. He ran out into the hallway and sped to the control room. He ignored the slightly dazed Fumu who stood by the entrance to the room and barged in.

"Meta Knight!" He hollered.

Meta Knight jumped down from his chair, leaving the controls to Sword and Blade who hurried on the sudden weight of the whole Halberd in their control. He walked over to Bun.

"Yes?"

"I'm hungry." Bun stated plainly.

"Well, the kitchen is open." Meta Knight nodded toward the entrance, as if dismissing him.

"But I'm hungry _now._" Bun whined.

"Then go."

"Fine…" Bun growled and walked out the door. _Kitchen kitchen kitchen kitchen… where are you…_

He started down the long hallway until he found a room he had not explored yet. _Kitchen? _He peeked his head in and saw the whole room was empty except for a small metal plate to one side. On the plate were numbers. Curious, he walked inside. _Not a kitchen… but what's this?_

He pressed a button; the one labeled '2' and waited for something to happen. Suddenly, the ground _moved. _He gasped, slipped, and fell to the ground, holding his head with his arms as the room started to _move _upward. After a few seconds, the room stopped. Bun got to his feet and he realized he was shaking. _That was… that was…_

_Fun!_

He scuttled over to the panel and pressed another one, it was '4'. He got ready as the room started to move upward again, this time for twice as long. When it stopped he decided to try the highest one, as the past numbers had been too short for his liking. He pressed the '10' button. Immediately, the room started up. He happily took the challenge, when the room stopped he paused. There was no more numbers to press, _unless…_

He pressed the '0' button and felt the room start to move down, he felt his shirt drag upward, and felt himself feel light headed. When it stopped he had started feeling sick, and he was still hungry. He stumbled out of the room in time to realize he wasn't on the floor he had started on. _Where am I?_

The room was dark. He felt around the wall to his side and felt a switch, he flicked it on and the lights came on. He gasped. The room was filled with _ships. _A smile crept past his lips and he eyes them all. Sleek jets made for fast flying, larger carrier ships, heavy battleships, a huge four winged monster with a giant blaster, so many he almost couldn't count them. _There is a whole fleet down here! _

He ran over to a large, sleek jet. He pressed his hand against its cool surface. It was polished wonderfully. He put his face close to it and let out a breath, clouding a patch. He pressed a finger to the mist and made a smiley. He grinned and made another. He pulled back and walked around the ship until he found the entrance. It was simply a crease in the surface, barely noticeable. He pressed a finger to the crease expertly and the door slid open. He walked inside the ship to find the floor slippery it was so clean and he fell on his face.

"ow…" he moaned. He pushed himself to his feet and peered around. He saw a velvet seated chair next to the controls. So many controls! He walked up to the dashboard and examined them for a moment, feeling dizzy.

He fell onto the chair until he felt better. He realized he was in the pilot's seat. He groaned and slammed his head on the dashboard in front of him. He felt his head press down on something and quickly snapped his head back up; he felt a sharp pain in his neck and pressed his hand to it. Just then he realized he had pressed a motion key.

"Shit." He stated.

The jet suddenly went into motion, and the garage started to open. It slid wide, and ahead of him was open space. He tried to get up and realized he had pressed something below the dashboard. With a jolt, the ship shot forward at the speed of the nether and he was in space.

***

Sorry for such a terrifying wait for such a tiny chapter. This is mostly a filler chapter. If you want details on why I hadn't put anything up for awhile, please pm me.

Everyone who has reviewed my story will be put on my profile! I thank you deeply!

Pleeeeease read + review, I'm thinking about making a purposeful wait until I get 20 reviews… but I'm not too mean to leave you on a cliffhanger.

At least one review and I will make the next one longer, I promise!

Thankyou!!!!


	21. He is Still Hungry

Hi! This is a bit longer, no? Thank you, Cmpteraddict, for the review! Can we get it to 18 reviews? I'll make a chapter after we get there. Please?

***

Meta Knight was the first to notice. He was back at the controls, and he noticed when the garage opened. His first thought was; _Damn, I guess it needs to be fixed closed again… _Then he realized one of the ships had just left the Halberd. _What the…?_

"Sir! Trouble! Bun seems to have gotten into one of the messenger jets and is leaving the Halberd!" Blade gasped.

"I know. Sword, stay here and keep the Halberd in check, make sure to follow Bun's location. Blade, go get Siliver and meet me at the garage. Now!" Meta Knight commanded.

In an instant, Blade was running down the hallway. _Shit, shit, shit, shit, where is that leopard?!_

He slammed open the door to her dorm. Inside was so dark he couldn't even see. He stood still, the light from the hallway lit a few feet into the room, but it showed nothing. He peered around, about to leave and check somewhere else when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. Immediately, he swung around. No one. Slowly, he turned back toward the inky blackness.

Suddenly, he felt cool metal get pressed to his neck, and he glance down to see a blade under his chin. It had runes on its surface, and he knew who's it was.

"S-Siliver, it's just me!" He stuttered. He felt the blade leave his neck.

"Don't surprise me again." She simply stated as Blade turned around to face her. Her bright emerald eyes were eyeing him suspiciously. "What do you want, anyways?"

"Hurry! Bun is being an idiot again!" He motioned for her to follow and started at a sprint towards the garage.

"What?"

"Meta Knight will explain! Just hurry to the garage!"

Blade took her into the moving room and they went down to the garage. Its light was on. Meta Knight stood before them.

"We're getting close to Nightmare's base. We have to catch Bun; he could hit a meteor, or get stranded on a hostile planet, crash or die. He could attract the attention of one of Nightmare's patrol ships, or get sucked into the black hole Syvantis, which we are passing close to. We must get him now!" Meta Knight motioned towards the ships.

Siliver understood and ran to her own battle jet. Finally she would get to test it out.

Blade ran to his own ship, it was small and made by himself. Although it was nothing like what his lord could make, he was quite proud of his humble little ship. It was one person and the controls inside were simple and easy for a beginner in air craft flying, like he was. The ship itself had been created for battle, but he found it worked much better on speed. This was the only disappointing part.

Meta Knight got into one of his fastest eagle jets, it was silver and its base was that in the shape of a thin diamond. To either side were its wings, made completely of silver diamonds. It looked much like a silver eagle, as it was named after. At the moment the wings were closed and hugged tightly at its sides. One might think the jet had no wings at all.

Wordlessly, they each started their machines. Immediately Meta Knight's eagle's wings unfurled, snapping into position. They watched as the garage opened and then shot into the sky without any signal. Quickly they linked each other's communication devices.

"Sword has sent me Bun's position. Follow." Meta Knight spoke. They both got the message and slipped quietly behind their leader's ship.

* * *

_I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die. _Bun's wide eyes widened as he watched the bright lights around him of stars. He had no clue how to control the jet, and decided it was best that he didn't press anymore buttons. His only hope was that Sword, Blade, or Meta Knight had realized he was out here. If not, we was as good as dead.

He started thinking about his will. _I don't have very much, but what I do have I think I'll give to sis. She is, after all, the one who always keeps me alive. _He paused recalling the thousands of times she had saved his life. Then he remembered something. She wasn't here now. _Or not. _He sighed. He hadn't even gotten to mess with the main controls!

How long had he been aimlessly drifting through space? An hour? More? So far he had skimmed a few floating boulders, barely escaped a planet's atmosphere, and almost seen by one of Nightmare's patrols. _Great. _He didn't know how much longer his luck would last.

He realized something.

There was a boulder floating through space.

It was close.

It was big.

He was going to crash.

"FUUUUUUUUUUCK!" He shrieked, his foot slammed down, and his body pressed back on his chair. He realized he had pressed acceleration.

Speeding towards him, the boulder seemed to be smiling evilly at him.

He shut his eyes, he couldn't watch. He felt tears stream down his cheeks. He was just a child. _I don't deserve this… I want to be back home! If there is any god out there, then hear by cry, I beg of you! I want to live, please! _He felt more tears drip down his fingers, and he didn't care. All he knew was that he was going to die.

No more teasing.

No more jokes.

No more pranks.

He was going to die.

* * *

"That is one big boulder!" Blade cried through the speaker. They had been on Bun's trail for about a half hour.

"Yeah, and what's that? That thing speeding towards it?" Siliver's voice.

"It's Bun." Meta Knight.

"WHAT?!" Blade practically screamed, Siliver and Meta Knight quickly muted the speakers until he had finished.

"Hurry. Now." Meta Knight commanded. His hands frantically flew, and the ship sped towards Bun. In a few seconds, he was above him. Luckily, he had chosen one of the fastest ones. Bun's black jet suddenly had a burst of speed, as if it _wanted _to crash. _The idiot! _Meta Knight cursed.

He shot out a missile. A line was connected to his ship, connecting to the missile. It opened as it flew towards the black jet. As it struck the polished surface, it became a metal claw that dug into the metal of Bun's ship. The thick line snapped into a straight line, and Meta Knight held fast. Meta Knight's ship was far stronger than Bun's, and it held him.

Quickly, Siliver and Blade joined him; they each shot out their own lines which latched onto the jet. It was held fast completely. The boulder was about one mile away; they could feel its pull. Meta Knight led the others away from it, and started back to the Halberd.

Bun suddenly felt a jolt, and was thrown forward. His head struck something and his ship stopped. He opened his eyes to see the boulder so close it looked like he could reach out and touch it, although he knew it was at least a mile away.

He saw a ship go right in front of him and shot out a missile that latched onto his own ship. The rough design of the ship before him was unmistakable. It was badly made, and he knew it had to be one of Nightmare's ships. _Just great. I think I got the wrong god on my side. _

A panel in front of him flashed, and he peered at it closely. A picture came up and split into three. As it came into focus, he gasped. The first one was of Meta Knight. The second of Siliver, and the third was of Blade. _I'm saved!_

"Bun, we've got you." Blade said.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do." That was Meta Knight. Bun gulped before realizing he was still hungry, but he put it aside and remembered Nightmare's ship.

"Guys," he hoped they could hear him, "One of Nightmare's ships just latched onto me too!"

All three of the others froze. Then Siliver broke out laughing. It was the first time Bun had ever heard her laugh. It sounded a lot like a mix between a purr and a growl. Meta Knight face palmed, and Bun could swear he saw Blade's helmet redden.

"B-but… I… It…" he stammered.

Siliver's purring growl was louder as she tried to speak;

"B-Blade, h-he," She fell into a fit of laughing, "Th-thinks your little dump," more laughing, "of a ship is one of Nightmare's pawns!"

"Oops…" Bun smirked a little.

"It doesn't! I was actually proud of this one!" Blade whimpered.

"Anyways," Meta Knight interrupted, "Don't think this will get you out of your explanation, Bun."

Bun gulped.

"Y-yeah, about that…" he trailed off.

"Yes?"

"W-well… I couldn't find the kitchen…"

Meta Knight face palmed.

"And… I found this room that moved up and down…"

"Elevator." Meta Knight interrupted.

"Yeah, elevator whatever, and it was fun to go up on! But when I got to the tenth floor I couldn't go up any further…"

"Continue." Meta Knight coaxed.

"So I went down to zero, which was the smallest number. It made me feel really sick to go down so fast at once… so I came out and I was in the garage!"

He paused.

"I saw the ships, and I really liked this black jet. I walked into it and tried out the seat. Really nice, Mety!"

Meta Knight flinched.

"So I think I did something, my head hit the dashboard and I think I pressed some button or another and it started to go in gear! Then I tried to get up and my foot pressed something! Then whala! I was in spaceland!"

"Space." Meta Knight corrected.

"You know, I'm still hungry."

"Great." Siliver purred.

"Saying you almost killed yourself trying to find a snack…" Blade pondered.

"… you're really quite stupid." He finished.

"Hey!" Bun cried out, then turned away and mumbled under his breath; "At least I've got an IQ higher than 5…"

"I heard that!" Siliver's ears had perked forward and her emerald green eyes were narrowed to angry slits.

"Then prove me wrong, fur face!" He challenged.

"I have the IQ of 199!" She hissed.

_They have those tests on her planet?!_

"Well, what about you; Blade?!" He cried out desperately.

"Uh…" Blade mumbled.

"You don't know? Or just afraid to say it?" Bun taunted.

"I'll have you know I've an IQ of 140! I had just forgotten for a moment…"

"Meta Knight?"

There was a long pause.

"Wait, never mind, I want to stay sane." Bun corrected himself.

* * *

They arrived back at the Halberd with relative ease. They had a close shave with one of Nightmare's patrols, though. When they arrived, the first thing Bun did was order Blade to get him something to eat.

"No." Blade answered.

"Please?"

"No."

"Aw come on…"

"No."

"I'll give you something?"

"N- wait what?" Blade peered at him suspiciously; they were back on the first floor.

Bun smirked.

"This." He drew a sword from behind his back; somehow it looked familiar to Blade…

"Wait a minute...!" He looked down at his sheath to see his sword was gone, "Why you little…!"

Bun smiled and scurried away down the hallway, waving Blade's sword above his head. Blade chased after him, cursing and snarling threats if he didn't stop.

"Boys." Siliver rolled her eyes.

Meta Knight walked down the hallway towards the control room. As he walked he remembered his conversation with Fumu. The thing he hadn't told her was that he hadn't accepted his own Shadow Beast. Secretly, he was afraid of it. It was powerful, strong enough to completely take control and demolish everyone. Everything. To accept it would mean allowing it control. It's too dangerous.

But every time he let it have a bit of time in power, it gets rasher. It wants to come free, and stay free. It is no longer content with being chained to a wall. No longer content with what he gives. But he is afraid of it, if he lets the beast within him free, it could ruin everything.

He stopped. His golden eyes looked down to see a shining red drop of blood on the polished ground. His blood. The wound on his side was a reminder. The black dragon was getting restless.

"_Saaaave meeeeeee!" _

Meta Knight was snatched back to the present by the howl in vain that echoed down the hall. He saw Wolfwrath thundering down, her eyes were wild, and her tongue lolled out from her jaws. The great wolf looked frantic.

"What's wrong?" Meta Knight asked.

"_Can't you see?!" _She howled as she screeched to a stop. Her eyes pleaded for help. Meta Knight then saw the pink ball on her head, playing with her ears. Kirby grabbed one of Wolfwrath's giant ears and stuck it in his mouth. Wolfwrath howled.

"Kirby…" Meta Knight sighed. Kirby's bright blue eyes looked up at his mentor and he dropped the great wolf's ear.

"Poyo!" He cried, happily leaping down from the wolf's mane.

"_Thank you, my prince." _Wolfwrath bowed her head; her ear flopped down from the wetness. Then she sped away from the moving nightmare of pinkness.

"Kirby… Wolfwrath is not a chew toy…"

"Poy?" he cocked his head, blue eyes sparkling with confusion.

The speakers came on.

"**Meta Knight? You there? You hear me?! Oh well, this is Sword. I think we're getting close to Nightmare…" **Sword's voice.

Meta Knight sighed and walked away from Kirby, towards the control room. He dismissed the thoughts of his other self.

* * *

Fumu watched Meta Knight as he walked away from Kirby. He hadn't noticed her. But she noticed the trail of blood he left. _Whats happening to him? _

***

See you when I get 18 reviews! Please! For any who haven't reviewed before who are in those four reviews I'll add you to my profile! Thank you!

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	22. Can't It Just Stay Dead!

Back! Thank you, everyone who reviewed! I sooo love reading reviews :D Warning; some blood and gore in this chapter.

Disclaimer is the same.

***

Fumu knew she should feel afraid, getting so close to the enemy's base. But, she didn't. In fact, she didn't feel anything. All she felt was a terror for Meta Knight. He had spoken of his other self, his Shadow Beast, but not of how he got that monstrous wound.

Bun interrupted her thoughts.

"You can't get me, you can't get me!~"

The first thing she saw was Bun. The second was Blade. The third was Blade's sword. Which, might I add, was not where it was supposed to be. More like, in Bun's hands. Above his head.

"Bun…" She sighed.

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BRAT! YOU BACK STABBING FEIND! I'LL PUMMEL YOU, I'LL KICK YOU, I'LL PUNCH YOU, I'LL BEAT YOU UP AND CUT YOU INTO TINY PIECES! GIVE ME BACK MY SWORD NOW!" Poor Blade.

She stepped out, blocking Bun's path.

"No! What do you think you're doing, sis?!" He cried out too late.

"GOT YOU!" Blade tackled him to the ground and yanked his sword from Bun. He slowly got back up, undusted himself, and thanked Fumu. "Thank you."

"Anytime."

He then left, abandoning his countless threats.

"You always ruin everything!" Bun huffed.

* * *

Kirby wandered aimlessly down the hallway. He wanted something to do. A tiny, little thing caught his eye. He had seen it before. He smiled happily. But then he frowned, a few tears formed in his eyes. It was hurt. He felt bad and walked up to it.

What was it, you might ask?

A tiny, very small, azure butterfly.

* * *

Bun realized he was hungry, still.

His only remaining hope was Kawasaki. He knew where his room was, but he hated Kawasaki's food. He trudged up to Kawasaki's door and knocked.

"Yes?"

"Can I come in?" Bun whispered, half hoping the fail chef wouldn't hear him.

"Sure!" He cried out from inside. Bun cursed.

He entered and saw Kawasaki in a mini kitchen, with a hammock in one corner.

"I-I'm hungry…" Bun whimpered at the sight of raw fish heads and mushrooms on a platter.

"Here!" Kawasaki pushed a bowl towards him. Bun walked over and picked it up. He peered into it, preparing for the worst.

Strawberries with peanut butter slathered unto them, mixed with artichoke and raw chicken wings. Was that an eye down there, or a figment of his imagination? Most likely it was real. Bun felt like throwing up, but he _was _hungry.

* * *

_Forget Bun. I'm hungry! _Wolfwrath snarled in her thoughts. She didn't know why, but she was drawn to chef Kawasaki's room. When she barged in, Kawasaki just stared at her, but she payed no heed.

Her eyes flickered over to Bun, who had separated the raw chicken wings from everything else. Wolfwrath walked over and ate them in a blink of a eye.

"_mmmm, that's good!" _She licked her lips with her long tongue.

"Really? I don't know what you are but if you like my food you're welcome!" He motioned toward a pile of raw fish and chicken.

Wolfwrath tore over and started devouring them.

* * *

King Dedede wasn't hungry. (Can you imagine that?!) He was bored. Nothing was happening. He couldn't even order any demons! Escargon was trying to entertain him with puppet shows, and utterly failing. He was growing restless.

* * *

"Sir! We're coming into Nightmare's grounds. He might have spotted us!" Sword motioned towards a digital map on one of the many screens.

"Yes. We must prepare for anything. We also should put up the invisibility shields. We don't have enough fuel to go into hyper space."

"Yes sir!" The two, as Blade had returned, got to work and before long the ship had invisibility shields on. Although they weren't sure how long it would last.

* * *

Waddle Doo and his Waddle Dees were back to protecting their picture. They were also back to being bored.

* * *

Tokkori was too busy snoring in his nest to notice anything.

* * *

Siliver felt something was up immediately. The spikes on her back rippled with anticipation. Her tail claw snapped at the air impatiently. Silently, she decided to patrol the hallways. It was her best bet at finding whatever she sensed.

* * *

Bun walked out of Kawasaki's room. With the help of Wolfwrath, he had managed to eat something. Now, the only person he could think of that would be fun to play a game with was Kirby. So he walked away to find him.

It wasn't long. Kirby was always too predictable. But something was different. He was _already _playing with something! Bun peered to the side to get a better look. The sight took his breath away.

It was an azure butterfly.

Its wings were tattered.

It was missing an antenna.

"How many times do we have to kill you before you stay dead?!"

* * *

Meta Knight felt something happen. He also started to feel dizzy.

"Excuse me for a moment, stay here controlling the ship." He commanded. He then opened his wings and flew up to the doorway. Quickly, he left the control room.

His eyes flashed white as he looked down at his hands.

'_It's growing restless.' _It was past restless now. _No time to get to my room… no time… _

* * *

Siliver heard something from near the control room. Quickly, the bounty huntress ran silently towards it. The sight she found terrified her.

A black dragon stood. Its amber eyes pierced into Siliver without words. Its two massive wings were folded at its sides. Its pitch black claws looked sharper then her own blade. Its tail lashed at the ground, the soulgem at the tip was only of sharp diamonds. It was as big as a large war horse. Four horns on its crest. Two thousand years it had lived.

"_Leave Siliver! Leave now!" _It roared. Siliver then saw the wound. Right across its neck, and bleeding heavily. Scales were smashed and shattered, and the wound shimmered in the light of the hallway. Siliver needed no more encouragement. She ran like hell was on her heals. Ignoring the sound she made from each step.

Then another sight made her stop. Kirby and Bun were in front of her. And a three legged lynx was in front of them. _Shadou. _

They were trapped. Between Meta Knight and the Shadou. _The perfect time for that damned Shadou to decide to show up! _Bun turned around at the sound of Siliver franticly running, and wished he hadn't.

"Wh-what…?" He stammered at the sight of a black dragon slowly wandering forwards, like it hadn't walked for thousands of years. It left a trail of shining blood.

"_Ah, fresh blood." _It snarled. Its amber eyes flashed grey.

On the other side of the three, the Shadou/lynx stalked forwards on three legs, as if it had four.

"_Seems you can't run this time." _The lynx hissed from between clenched teeth.

Something inside the dragon clicked, and suddenly the dragon was Meta Knight, not some unknown beast. It roared, its back legs coiled and then launched, the dragon flew through the air and plummeted right into the lynx that could not kill it as a dragon is no mortal being.

The lynx cursed in a growl, and as the two mighty beings fought, the others ran.

"Holy shit!" Bun gasped, "Siliver, what was going on?!"

The turned a corner and hid behind a convenient pillar.

Siliver laughed mirthlessly.

"Meta Knight's inner beast is angry. He has not accepted it and thus it is mad."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?!" Bun cried out.

"Simple. The dragon is Meta Knight's shadow beast. Meta Knight can communicate with shadow beasts, but he has not accepted it and it is furious." She explained quickly.

"Then why doesn't he just accept whatever it is?!"

"Because he is afraid of it." She answered quickly, "Now come, we have little time."

The group of three, with a very clueless Kirby, continued down the hallway towards the control room where they most likely would be safe. Wolfwrath joined them with her tongue lolling from her jaws.

"_What are you running from?" _

"Meta Knight!" Bun cried, as he was still very confused.

The wolf didn't answer, just turned around and ran back where the others had come from.

* * *

Sword and Blade noticed something different on their screens. Was that a lynx and a dragon fighting?! They decided they were just going crazy.

* * *

Meta Knight lashed the Shadou over its snout with his soulgem, cutting deep into its soft nose and causing blood to well. The Shadou yelped in pain, but was able to rake one paw over Meta Knight's neck wound. He roared in pain, as the soft and bloody tissue was ripped open even more.

Wolfwrath then leapt at the lynx. She, also, was luckily not mortal. She pinned it down and the two being fought. Cat vs. Dog. Lynx vs. Wolf.

Meta Knight had collapsed, the neck wound even more bloody then it had been. Broken scales clattered to the ground, each separating with a sickening spray of blood. The torn tissue shrieked with pain, throbbing through his whole body. He roared in agony as more blood gushed from the wound.

The lynx paralyzed Wolfwrath for a moment with a lash on her nose, and the Shadou leapt at Meta Knight, teeth sinking into the swollen flesh around his neck. With a shrieking scream from the depths of hell, Meta Knight rose ripping more flesh from the wound while doing so. Every limb, every single scale on his body felt like it was burning from the pain, the agony.

He reared his head back, ignoring everything for a small moment, opened his jaws, and bellowed a sheet of crackling flames at the lynx that retreated in alarm. In seconds, the smell of burning flesh met the three's nostrils. Light burst in the hallway, as well as unimaginable heat. The pooled blood sizzled from the heat, leaving a brown crust where it had been moments before.

The lynx leapt from the flames, fur burning, it yowled in pain as it retreated back down the hallway, disappearing from sight. The fire crackled for a few more moments before simmering down into nothingness. Then Meta Knight collapsed on the ground, more blood replaced what had been in seconds, and he blacked out.

* * *

Siliver was the first to smell the reek of burning flesh. Then the others smelt it too. Bun wanted to retch, but held it in. Kirby whimpered, and Siliver ran back the way they had come, alarmed. Fumu joined her, attracted by the terrible smell.

"What's happening?!" She cried.

"Meta Knight! He…" Siliver broke off, needing to say nothing more but holding in the information about the Shadou's return.

Then they came upon the scene of battle.

The first thing they saw was Wolfwrath, who was howling in distress and hopelessness. Then they saw the large, unmoving form. A huge black dragon lay on the ground, its eyes shut. Fumu recognized it from the dark room with a shudder. Then she saw the wound.

Blood pooled like a lake around its neck. The neck wound she had seen before had gotten worse. Ripped flesh was strewn on the ground around it like a weaving. And the wound itself was swollen, sore flesh bloody and shredded. Broken scales scattered around, each one glittered and sparkled with beauty swallowed by the horrific scene.

***

Ahhh, a nice cliffhanger! Once again thank you everyone who reviewed!

Please review again! :)


	23. Stuck in Scales

Long wait short chapter. Sorry! So many blackouts, so many times I lost the stuff I was working on, that I just needed to get something done for you guys, so I promise I'll do better next time. Anyways Review after you've read this, please!

* * *

_Danger. Horror. Anger. Pain. Agony. Fear._

_Nightmare._

_No… _

_Silence. _

_Alone. _

_Forgotten._

_Alone…_

…_forever…_

…_alone…_

* * *

His eyes slowly opened, everything was blurred. Hazy outlines could be made out feet away. Or inches? He didn't know. Pain wracked across his mind in seconds and fatigue overwhelmed him. His eyes were forced shut and he lost consciousness.

* * *

_Where am I?_

_Darkness._

_Silence._

_Alone._

_Forgotten._

_Pain._

_Truth._

_Agony…_

* * *

How long was he unconscious? Days? Weeks? However long, the black dragon was unmoving. It could have been mistaken as dead if it wasn't taking short, raspy breaths.

Once again its dazed, amber eyes opened momentarily before shutting from the blinding light. His head was pounding and pain seared through his veins like fire. He tried to maintain consciousness but the pain was too great and he found himself slipping again…

It seemed a day before his consciousness returned, and still he felt sick with fatigue. Agonizing pain still throbbed through his body, but he was able to open his heavy eye lids momentarily. Still, his sight was blurred and the light hurt his skull and sent small chills of pain down his spine. But slowly, carefully his sight sharpened and he was able to see the silver shine of metallic walls surrounding him.

_Where am I?_

* * *

A pulse of pain from his neck caused him to wince and shut his eyes once more. He found that when he tried to move, his body would not let him. He risked opening his eyes again. With all the strength he could muster his head bent around so he could look at his neck and to his surprise it was bandaged in blood soaked silk. Then he realized something.

_Neck?_

Confusion trickled into his mind before his consciousness slipped for the third time.

* * *

"How long has he been unconscious?" Fumu worriedly asked Sword.

"Four days." She answered solemnly. She then looked down at the girl, "He has come to three times, each for no more than fifteen seconds."

"If he doesn't wake up soon, who will lead us against Nightmare? We can't keep dodging his ships forever you know!" Fumu cried exasperatedly.

"I know. What strikes me as strange is that Sir Meta Knight is still in his alternate form. I wonder if something is wrong?" Sword pondered, Fumu caught the sense of dread in her voice.

"You're afraid for him, aren't you?"

Sword's eyes dropped to the ground, "Who isn't?"

* * *

"Blade, this is the third time you've almost killed us. I tell you, let me control the Halberd!" Siliver hissed as Blade fumbled with the Halberd's crazy amount of controls.

"I tell you, I can-" There was a jerk as a comet narrowly missed one of the Halberd's wings.

Siliver's eyes narrowed as a bead of sweat formed on Blade's mask. (…)

* * *

He regained consciousness once more. The pain has lessened. His neck ached, but the feeling of agony was replaced by a warm numbness. He managed to open his eyes, and was met with blinding light once more. As his eyes traced across his black scales he knew what was happening, and he knew the horrific form he had taken. They all would know now. His secret would be out.

"Sir Meta Knight? A-are you awake?" The voice was light, and also brimming with worry and concern. It took a moment for him to match the tone to Sword.

His eyes opened fully, and the amber light answered her question. He took in his surroundings and in a moment understood where he was. It was simply the emergency room that he had made in case of injury, although he had not thought he himself would need it. It was a simple place, a few cabinets contained medicine and bandages, while a sink with ample cold water supply was close and easy to reach. Stretchers, four or five, lined the walls and the knight was amused to see this dragon form took up four.

All the same, he didn't like being taken care of. Feeling that he wouldn't slip into unconsciousness, he managed to raise his head. Dizziness rushed into his sight and mind, but he just gritted it fangs and continued until his head was a few feet above the cloth of the stretcher.

"Sir Meta Knight! You're too wounded, you shouldn't be stressing your neck out so much!" Sword cried out, but he ignored her.

"_I'm fine, Sword." _He spoke with his mind, and Sword was startled out of her wits from this.

Shakily, his tail lifted and snaked around the edge of one of the stretchers he was on. He shoved it, sending it skating away and also causing the other three that shared his weight to shudder and move away from the pressure. The result was them dropping him to the ground, which was what he wanted. Heaving himself up with his claws, and ignoring the pulses of dizziness, he managed to get to his feet. Although Sword protested, he then left the room.

As he walked, he felt the heavy feeling of a full coat of metal. The clink of his claws was familiar because of his metal shoes making the same sound. He then realized that this was the first time he had had complete control over his shadow form. Partially amazed, he unfurled his wings and examined the thin, leathery skin that stretched over the bony fingers that extended from two joints. One joint was near to where the wing protruded from his back, the other was about midway the length of the wing. The first, closer to his back, only had one short finger. The other had three longer ones. He also noted the thin, bluish purple veins with lined the leather.

He flexed one, and felt the feeling of his back muscles working. It reminded him of his own wings, except these were more than ten times larger. Examining the length and width, he found each one reached about his own body's length, which was extremely long considering his tail, adding up to a wingspan of twice himself! He folded them tightly to his sides. No matter how interesting this shadow form was, he needed to get back to his own form.

* * *

Nothing in this world was easy, especially not when Blade was driving a huge, massive battle ship through unknown and enemy territory. And so that was how they found themselves face to face with one of Nightmare's patrolling ships.

"Idiot." Siliver hissed at Blade.

"Shut up." He growled.

The enemy ship wasn't very large, about a fifth the size of the Halberd, but it was fast. It didn't have many offensive instruments, and so Siliver could guess right away it was a carrier ship.

"Blade, close the deck's emergency doors immediately!" She instructed.

Blade paused a moment, eyes rapidly flickering over the immense amount of levers, buttons, wheels, _was that a pulley? _Faucets…? Gears, cogs, springs, wires, and so many others that Blade couldn't count or some he couldn't even recognize.

"Uh…" he started sweating.

"Hurry up Blade!" Siliver impatiently growled, eyes watching as the ship moved closer to the deck, it seemed relived nothing was even trying to stop its approach.

"How the heck am I supposed to do that?" He cried out in exasperation.

"At least blow it up or something!" Siliver roared.

"HOW?" Blade moaned.

"PRESS RANDOM BUTTONS!" Siliver instructed as a last resort.

Blade hesitated before yanking a lever down and gulping as an alarm blared on. He then slammed his fist into a button and his other hand started flicking switches rapidly, Siliver watched in amusement as a huge metal claw came out from the bottom of the Halberd and started snapping at relatively nothing before small lasers started shooting out from under the Halberd's wings.

All in all, Blade was making things worse. The enemy ship landed on the deck, claw like landing mechanisms clamped onto the Halberd's metal surface. Siliver walked over and pressed the intercom, blaring a warning that everyone who could not fight remain in their rooms and lock the doors. Those who could fight should come to the control room.

It wasn't long before Dedede, who was breathing heavily, along with Waddle Doo and his Waddle Dees came tumbling into the control room. They were followed by Kirby and Wolfwrath, Kirby was riding on Wolfwrath, hugging her mane. Wolfwrath looked very depressed. Following then came Sword.

Waddle Doo walked forward.

"I'll take care of the ship; you all go to the deck." He instructed. Blade nodded and hopped off the main seat.

All the assembled rushed away, Sword in the lead, going towards the deck to meet the incoming enemy units.

* * *

The ship itself was made out of raw ore, chunks of it crudely put together with some kind of substance that looked a lot like hardened lava. The claws that grasped the deck were made of sharp metal, surprisingly they still glowed red like hot coals, as if newly made. A latch opened and a smooth platform slipped out from under the ship until it met with the ground. The door above opened and steam spewed from inside.

As the thick fog of stream rolled out over the deck, coiling and flashing like living serpents, the demon which had been housed within the ship started to come forth. The first to emerge was a large feathered serpent, red eyes glinting and sparkling like a maniac. Its fangs showed from under its lip, more than a foot long. Quills crowned its neck in a full circle; they rippled before rising and stiffening, then falling back down to its neck. At the end of its long body was a scorpion's venomous claw. Its colors were all of those of the rainbow, and might be called beautiful if it wasn't out to kill you.

It curled around the ship, long coils looping over its bumpy surface, the drooping and slithering waves continued to move around the enemy ship until it was firmly holding on. On the very top of the ship was its head, which rose to the stars above and spat, before dropping down below the ship to look for prey that might stumble within reach. Siliver made a mental note to avoid the ship.

After that came four small lizard units, manlike in body shape but with a lizard's tail and slippery skin. Their beady eyes were cold and sent chills down the defender's spines. One was armed with a net, another with an axe and the last two with swords. All crudely made as if fixed together at last minute, but also jagged as to cut flesh at the slightest touch. They grinned and showed their long, pointed, shark like layers of jagged teeth and front fangs.

The steam poured out in great layers, completely hiding what else came from the ship.

Without waiting another second, the lizard warriors moved into a formation of one in front of the other and moved forward slowly, black eyes watching for any weakness in the defender's own formation. Then they leapt forward, axe and sword men aiming to slay Kirby, even if it meant their own lives being taken in the process. The defenders spread out, and Kirby jumped out of the way as one of the sword wielders jumped forward, missed Kirby, ad struck Wolfwrath across her snout.

A piercing scream erupted from her maw as fire formed in her jaws shot out at the lizard, burning away his sword arm and sending the foul smell of burning flesh into the air. Blood sprayed out and pooled by his clawed feet, sticking to his sides and shoulder.

The other sword wielder ended up in a sword lock with blade, each of their muscles straining and sweat beading on their foreheads. But who said they'd play fair? The lizard man's neck extended and his jaws sank deep into Blade's armor, piercing through and sending some blood trickling down his mask. Sword, seeing Blade's peril, jumped in and used her sword to bite into the lizard man's shoulder, paralyzing its arm. Blade's sword now easily overcame the lock and sliced forward, sinking deep into the lizard's chest where blood welled and it fell limp.

Blade withdrew his blood stained sword and watched as the dead lizard man crumpled to the ground and disappeared into the thick fog. Something seemed weird about the fog. Something he couldn't quite grasp…

He gasped in surprise as something sharp prickled his leg, like some sharp puppy's teeth. Then suddenly it felt like flames were licking up his leg, and the tiny prickling teeth turning into huge, sharp fangs before he was pulled under the thick fog and disappeared from view.

* * *

Cliff hanger! Sorry about the loooong wait, some difficulties with blackouts and all. Shouldn't be such a long wait next time… eh heh.

Please review. I'm gunna see if the reviews can match how many chapters I have, if they do it will be a great improvement!


	24. Freed From the Dragon's Claws

Well, I'm back. Warning; BLOOD AND GORE. I'm starting to free myself from writer's block. Heh.

Disclaimer is always the same, you know. Although I want to claim that dragon as mine ^.^

* * *

"BLADE!" Sword screamed, watching her closest family disappear from view.

Siliver, who was in tight combat with the axe wielder, could only grunt and spare the devastated knight a glance before swinging her sword around and blocking the huge, iron axe.

Kirby, who looked stunned staring at the blood which gushed from the armless and scorched sword unit, couldn't pull himself away as tears formed under his clear blue eyes.

"_Kirby! That's a demon; you would do well to not pity them. I, on the other paw, think this calls for a well deserved snack." _Wolfwrath growled; a small tone of mirth rung on the last statement.

Kirby's pure soul winced as Wolfwrath's gaping jaws crushed the lizard beast's head like a melon, blood and other gunk oozing from her teeth and the headless body which crumpled to the ground.

Wolfwrath just grinned, a vein sticking out from her bloodstained teeth.

It seemed no one took the screaming Sword into consideration except two waddle dees, which rushed to her side with spears at the ready, a determined look on their mouth-less faces.

"S-something is… is in the fog… it took… it took B-Blade!" Sword stammered, eyes scanning the moist, white steam that resembled fog.

The sound of cold steel slicing into flesh caught her attention and she turned her head in time to see Blade leap up from the white, sword dripping with sticky, red blood.

"BLADE!" Sword yelled in relief, rushing over to him. As she came closer she realized he was standing lop sided, and his foot (basically his foot, ankle, and leg in one, right?) was covered in his own blood. His armor was punctured there, in many places like something had bitten him.

"Blade…" She whispered.

"Ambush." Blade growled, watching the blood drip from the tip of his sword.

"Is it still alive?"

"I don't know." His eyes flickered to the rolling fog with a glint of worry.

* * *

Dedede was watching the net carrying lizard. The lizard was doing about nothing, just watching the battles going on with its long neck extended, maw snapping at invisible foes. Its long, ugly nails gripped the net tightly. Its beady black eyes were staring at Wolfwrath and Kirby as they conversed.

For once, Dedede felt like he wasn't the idiot of the battle field.

He rushed the net carrier with his hammer at the ready. As fast as lightning the lizard's head snapped around, eyes narrowing before lightly dancing out of the hammer's path. Dedede missed with a hiss of the hammer's speed hitting air. With elegant grace the lizard man whipped the net around and caught Dedede's hammer, ripping it from the fat penguin's grasp.

"Why you…" He grinded his beak in suppressed fury as the lizard tossed the used net aside and tackled Dedede with tooth and nail.

Shocked, Dedede was taken by surprise as he felt flaring pain in one hand, the lizard's jaws closed around it with bone crushing force. Dedede didn't scream as the pain became so intense that he felt like his hand was being torn from his very body, but he swung his fist around and bashed the lizard so hard in its nose that he felt its bone be mashed into splinters.

Of course, his fist pulsed with pain from hitting it so hard.

As the lizard reeled backwards, nails clawing at its bloody mess of what once were its nostrils; Dedede eyes his hand in sad disgust. It was broken. That was easy to see. It was ripped up pretty badly too. A little longer and the lizard beast would have succeeded in maiming him.

The lizard, though, was not finished with Dedede yet. It was mad and wanted revenge for its destroyed nose, even if its bleeding could kill it. Shrieking a battle cry it leapt at Dedede, crooked nails tearing at Dedede's royal robes as Dedede tried to protect himself. Just as its head was snaking its way to Dedede's neck in order to finish him, two spears punctured the lizard's sides clean through and it fell limp to the ground.

Dedede's rescuers, his two waddle dee servants, then escorted him back into the ship and to safety.

* * *

Siliver was quicker, more agile, and stronger then the lizard swordsmen she fought. Her footwork was fancier, and she was much more elegant. The result was that the sword dance was lopsided; the lizard paled in comparison to Siliver's battling grace. But then, as the old lizard saying goes…

…Who cares?

It was fascinating as the two beast hominids fought, not only their swords slashing and blocking but their tails wiping and slicing. Their heads and jaws did not hold back, biting and ripping at every chance they got. Siliver used her horns to penetrate the lizard's neck as the lizard's shark teeth sunk into her back, just dodging one of her spines.

The lizard's tail was like a rudder, crushing blows sending the leopardess off balance, as Siliver's tail was like another claw, the spines snapping and lashing the lizard's body and tail simply for the sole purpose of causing pain.

All in all, even with a leopard's grace and a lizard's power, it was pure havoc.

"You motherless beast! You rat! You snake! You **dare** dent my shoulder plate?" Searclaw Shadowstalker Dragonfang seethed in rage as the lizard man's teeth scraped her silver shoulder plate.

The poor thing didn't know what was coming.

In one jagged movement her tail whipped around, the spines on the tip closing around its head and crushing it slowly. It gasped in pain, black eyes narrowing as it decided to go out… with a bang.

Siliver quickly over came the lizard with a burst of adrenaline, but at the last moment the lizard did something unspeakable.

In a jolt its head snapped forward, jaws sinking into Siliver's scratch-less mask. She roared in pain, the shark teeth sinking into her nose.

It would have killed her. Its teeth were going to pierce her brain, as if those that landed in the snap sunk deeper, it would have. Her last, desperate move was a swift swipe of her foreclaw, and the press of a certain place under her helmet, by her throat.

The helmet then disappeared into a portable block, taking the lizard's teeth with it. Not sparing another moment, the leopardess swung her arm around and decapitated the lizard with her sword.

It was then, as all the lizard men were dead and they could rest for a few frail moments that she realized what she had done.

Immediately her paw moved to her face. When it felt her own, warm fur her emerald eyes widened. Her pure black head, her soft ears, her crystal, dark grey horns…

_No no no no no no no…_

"S-Siliver…" Sword turned and looked at Siliver's fearful eyes.

"Oh my god…" Blade whispered, ignoring his wounded foot.

The first thing one might take into consideration was that the teeth of the shark had wounded her nose, and the blood was dripping down her muzzle, but that wasn't what could put shock into anyone's heart. Nor was it her fangs or pearl white teeth. It was her scar.

It looked like something, or someone, had raked three claws across face, from her soft, furry ears to her light pink nose and whiskers. The skin there was open so deeply her bone showed, but no blood. It was as if the very wound had healed, but no covering was there. It was an impossible scar, one that could not be there. You could see _into _her. The veins, the rushing blood, the muscle, and the bare bone.

"_No…" _She whispered, paws covering the strange scar which defied all truth and all possibility.

"_What…?" _Wolfwrath, even, was taken aback.

Faster than they could blink, she took the portable block and pressed it to her head's skin. Immediately it expanded and covered her scar and face again in seconds. The teeth had long since fallen from the metallic block and onto the metal ground, but they had left holes in her armor. None showed her strange scars. The bounty huntress quickly regained her composure.

Just in time, as the fog started to lift.

Coiling its massive body around the deck was a huge serpent that highly resembled the one still perched around the ship. Except this one was white, as to blend with the fog. Noticing its cover was gone; it lifted its head and opened its fans from around its neck. That made it look bigger.

Blood dripped from one eye socket. The extended fans only helped show that Blade had speared one of its eyes out. It hissed, lifting its lips to show fangs. _Venomous _fangs.

"S***." Blade cursed. He had wondered why his foot had burned like fire. Only now did he realize the danger he was in. He collapsed to the ground, clutching his burning foot.

"Blade! Are you alright?" Sword gasped, kneeling down over him.

"P-poisoned…" He felt a wave of sickness wash over him and his foot started to numb. He felt weak. "Ugh…"

"Blade!" Sword wasted no more time. Happily, luck was on her side and the others had their heads turned as she lifted her helmet from her face, long locks of golden hair flowing down her back. She took no time to shake it from her face, and so a clear look at her was not acquired.

Quickly she pressed her lips to Blade's wound, causing him to flinch. Breathing in deeply she took a large amount of poison into her mouth, along with some of Blade's blood, turned her head and spat it out onto the deck. Her mouth burned from the poison, but she continued to spit until she only felt a bit of her own blood in her mouth. Then, faster then she took action, she slipped her helm back over her face.

"What the…" Blade obviously didn't know how to get poison out of a wound and Sword just growled at him. Of course, such a rushed procedure did not get all the poison from him, and it only postponed the venom from getting into his blood stream and killing him, so Sword called Kirby over from Kirby's heated, silent, death stare with Wolfwrath to escort him to Fumu so she could help him.

With the defender's numbers decreased to a leopardess with injured pride, a knight with her closest friend in danger, and a moody demon wolf against two sister serpents, each larger than twice the size of the defenders combined, things weren't looking great.

…Especially when the rainbow demon uncoiled itself from the enemy ship and joined the white for some action. Pretty much, they felt screwed.

So when the white and colorful serpents struck with lightning fast speed, their coils wrapping around their unsuspecting prey, it didn't look much better for them. In the white's coils were Wolfwrath and Siliver, as the rainbow held only Sword.

"Any brilliant plans, Siliver?" (They had recovered a bit from shock) Sword screamed.

"Why the hell am I the one being targeted?" Siliver snarled back.

"_Well, considering your species has a higher intelligence level than the cappy race, and your higher sense of authority, mixed with the significant amount of threat, grace, elegance, strength, and…" _Wolfwrath coughed, _"strange bouts of stupidity, a gift of gab, a sense of getting into high places of danger, liking of the ideas of probable death, and idiotic plans… you seem to be the perfect one to ask for battle strategies!" _

"Thanks?" She questioned before the serpents brought the three higher into the air, where they were helpless.

The white turned its long, narrow snout towards Wolfwrath. Twisting, it brought its head to her snout, crimson eyes locking with Wolfwrath's emerald.

"_Ssso, fffire demon wolfff, ye daresss crosss thee massster?" _it hissed, head rocking side to side.

"_My master is not yours, fiend. I serve only the prince." _She answered, eyes narrowing.

"_Thou wasss alwaysss the one to makkke I laugh." _The serpent spat, swinging its head continuously. _"Thee princcce ssservesss thee massster, ssso thee ssservesss thee massster."_

Wolfwrath arched her neck, her mane bristling in rage.

"_You wretch dares to accuse the prince himself of being with the underhanded idiot that you fiends call 'master'?" _She howled in anger.

"_Did I offffffend thee puppy?" _It hissed, a smirk on its lips.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt the conversation, but Wolfwrath you know we do have more stressing things to take car-," Siliver attempted.

"_SH_(shshsh on the serpent's part)_UT UP!"_ Both the white and Wolfwrath roared, silencing her.

So as the two kept an eye lock, conversing between themselves, Siliver was stuck watching as the colorful serpent sister prepared to eat Sword. It was mocking Sword first, so as to savor the victory. Siliver knew better than to celebrate while the enemy still lives, but that obviously wasn't the top priority on the demon training list.

(By the way, try saying 'serpent sister' five times fast)

"_When I kill you I'm going to feast on your heart, rip out your liver, shred your kidney and use your skinny bones as toothpicks! I'll suck on your eyeballs, roast your puny brain and serve it with your stomach, I'll slurp your intestines and drink your blood! I'll eat you and throw you up and eat you again! I'll stomp on you, spit on you, crush you, maul you, bash you, divide you into tiny sections, burn you, roast you, poison you, bite you, scratch you, shred you, lash you and rake you! I'll whip you and slice you and I'll…" _Wolfwrath went on and on above Siliver's head.

After naming every possible manner of harming and disposing or eating added with 'you' known in the said language, she came to a halt. It was only then that Siliver realized Wolfwrath had said that all in one breath while struggling in the serpent's coils.

"WOLFWRATH!" Sword screamed in vain as the other sister tightened her grip on Sword.

Wolfwrath looked down on Sword, seemingly knocked out of a daze.

"_Oh." _She simply spoke. Arcing her back, she prepared to send a ball of flame at the rainbow serpent.

"_Not ssso fassst." _The white tightened its coils abruptly, jerking the air out of Wolfwrath.

It looked hopeless. Nay, it didn't look hopeless, it _was _hopeless.

It was then that a huge black dragon burst from the sealed doors of the deck. Its massive wings were unfurling as its piercing amber eyes took in the scene. Smoky, blood red swirled into his amber eyes before he leapt at the white serpent, claws ready to rend and tear.

His anger was causing a loss of control over the other's body.

The white serpent swung its head around and attempted to fend off the angry, black demon but when it attempted to sink its teeth into the dragon's flesh its scales repelled the assault. So it could only watch in horror as the black dragon ferociously bit and tore into the serpent sister's flesh, scattering blood droplets into the air until he had succeeded in dividing the serpent in half.

It died almost instantly, its coils loosening enough for its captives to get free. As Wolfwrath fell to metal she wasted no time to devour the white serpent… slowly.

The rainbow serpent, seeing the danger and her own sister die so cruelly (not forgetting that Wolfwrath is slowly _eating _it) hurtled Sword across the deck and the knight slammed against the walls of the Halberd. So, it was sort of strange when the massive black dragon suddenly started to shrink, wings getting smaller and body changing. This continued until Meta Knight stood, Galaxia drawn and ready while the others just stood, confused.

His amber eyes flickered to the others for a moment.

"I figured out how to get out of that other body, but I can't if I'm not the one controlling it. I was starting to lose control. I had no choice." He briefly explained.

The colorful serpent smirked; her worst enemy had just shrunk to bite size.

"Ugh…" Sword moaned, still sprawled out on the ground.

"Siliver, go get Sword to safety." Meta Knight commanded.

"Yes sir." Siliver answered, helping Sword to her feet and stumbling back inside the ship.

"Wolfwrath," Meta Knight began.

"_Yes, my prince?" _she purred.

"Burn it." He finished. Wolfwrath purred louder in agreement before rearing on her hind legs.

Two balls of crackling fire seared at the confused serpentess. They struck her glimmering, colorful feathers and set them alight. It screamed in pain as her whole body caught on fire, the feathers burning to nothing in seconds.

"_I almost feel bad." _Wolfwrath glowered, eying the burning serpentess.

"Don't just yet." Meta Knight answered calmly as the serpent turned its burning head towards the pair and lunged.

Meta Knight jumped to the side, and Wolfwrath jumped over the venomous fangs and teeth, landing on the burning beast's neck. As the serpentess screamed in pain and frustration, Wolfwrath lowered her head to the burning feathers and scales and took a deep breath, letting the flames into her system.

It felt so good. She hadn't had flames for so long… she purred happily and took in more, greedily drinking the flames. They energized her, her fur flickered with new found strength and her spines crackles, heating to a burning temperature. Her jewel on her forehead gleamed with a emerald sparkle.

"Wonderful…" she growled in pleasure. To finish she dug her snout into the serpent's neck and let the warm blood swirl around her muzzle. She loved it; the heat, the warmth, the blood. She drank it all into her. She tore at the heated flesh with her fangs, let the blood flow increase, and let the heat bubble to a new temperature.

But such pleasure can not last forever, especially when the serpentess was still alive. It was squirming in pain, coiling and thrashing. It seemed only fair to end the demon's suffering. Meta Knight watched as Wolfwrath cut the nerves and disconnected the serpent's blood stream to its head. The serpentess died instantly. Wolfwrath was saddened that the body had already begun to cool, and the flames had gone out.

But, all the same, her emerald eyes lifted to her prince who had now recovered.

It was time for them to finally move to Nightmare himself, for they had an expert at the wheel once more.

"_My prince, are you sure you wouldn't want me to just take a few bites from that pesky green bird? I'm sure he wouldn't miss a limb or two… oui, oui, are you listening to me my lord? Just a juicy wing or maybe two… I'm talking to you! ~ You know it might do you well to listen to me when I'm talking to you, my prince…"_

* * *

I almost unmasked Sword! And... well... I kinda unmasked Siliver. Didn't get a good enough look at her yet to really see her face.

Well, I think I'm recovering from writer's block after so long. Lots of blood 'n gore in this chapter, eh? Well I just can't resist not after so long of filler chapters and such. I think I'm finally getting myself to move on to Nightmare's castle or fortress or thingy… yeah I have a lot of thinking to do if I'm ever going to get to it…

Also, oui means 'yeah' if you didn't know. It's French.

After saying serpent sister 5 times, I find myself hissing; 'shurpent shiser' rofl.

Well, I'm begging you… _please __**PLEASE **_review. For me, as an author… please…


	25. Amber Tears of the Stallion

Nice, short chapter before I leave, don't you think?

Disclaimer is about the same as always, but the new evil gal is mine. MINE! *cough* where were we?

* * *

The air inside the pitch black room was chilling, but pleasantly. It was perfect for keeping one awake. But at the same time, the cold was forbidding. The slight, freezing breeze that was created in the room concealed from the outside was strange as well. A being was in this room. Its body temperature was below zero, enough to numb anything that touched it.

It's slow, steady breathing confirmed not only that the creature was alive, but that it was asleep. Slowly, the creature opened its eyes, which were human. They were a clear, crystal blue. Immediately upon its awakening the room burst with light, and the cold chill melted away. Its body temperature rose to a burning temperature in seconds.

The room was lit and revealed that it was almost empty, excluding the creature.

Pale golden, red, and blond hair flowed in the breathless air from her head. She got to her feet delicately, slim figure silently trembling as if she had never moved for a long time. The being was human, or seemed human. A pure golden cloak clung to her shoulders, and she wrapped it around her more tightly. Under the cloak she wore a thin, white gown.

She stumbled silently, seemingly light as a feather as she fell forwards and steadied herself on the wall. Her pale, smooth skin was almost ghostly. In one hand, clutched by her slim fingers, was one of the two other objects in the room. It was a crystal, pure and beautiful amber. After steadying herself, she stared at her other hand which grasped another object. A navy blue sapphire glowed in the palm of her hand. She watched it, gaze hopeful and yet questioning.

The first sound she made since she awoke was a gasp.

The sapphire began to crumble away. At first, many cracks appeared along its surface, as thin as single hairs. Then it slowly fell, sliding through her fingers as it transformed into a pile of sparkling navy dust. The shock she had first experienced was replaced by agonizing despair. She dropped the amber crystal, bringing her hands to her face.

The second sound she made was sobbing. Bright, clear, sky blue tears streamed down her cheeks. When she calmed herself, she was trembling. Reaching one shaking hand out, she grasped a handful of the silvery dust and held it to her breast, a few more tears falling and splashing onto the remains of the sapphire.

Finally she let the particles leave her fingers and fall to the ground once more. She reached out and picked up the amber, cradling it in her arms. Then, in a whisper, she spoke for the first time. Her voice was sweet and light, like that of a morning dove. But yet it was clouded with loss.

"Oh brother," she whimpered, "I... I still need you… I'm not ready…"

More tears threatened her. Then suddenly she burst into crazed fury.

"You said you'd never leave me!" She cried in agony, "You promised me!"

Her face was then buried into her slim fingers.

"You… you promised… you said you would love me forever… you said you would protect me… and… and I believed you…" she felt one hand dig into the pile of dust, "and yet… you leave me without…" she sobbed once more, "without even a goodbye…"

Suddenly the tears vanished; she delicately got to her feet again.

"But then, you also told me to be strong. Never to cry. Even if you have to leave me in this galaxy, all alone. I always looked at you with admiration, my older brother, and finally you will get to look at me like I did. I will succeed where you failed!" she shut her crystal blue eyes, gown blowing in an unseen wind and cloak released from her shoulders to swirl out behind her.

Her hair settled around her shoulders as she wandered to the door. Slowly she pressed one hand to the door, leaned her head towards it and whispered three words;

"I am ready."

The door slid open, and before her was a huge crowd of demons. All of them created by her brother. She smiled, basking in the glory her brother had created. She stepped out of the room she had been within, and a hush fell over the roaring and squabbling crowd.

Then it came back, except louder and with more ferocity. They cheered for her in thousands of demonic tongues.

In the very back of the crowd a particularly muscular white dragon watched calmly. It was beautiful in a strange sort of way, sharp scales covering it from nose to tail tip. It had two large golden horns on its crest and two smaller ones under it, both healthy and in attractive places. Its blood red eyes were unsettling. Its wings were feathered and tightly folded at its sides.

The white dragon watched the young female quietly. Unlike the other demons, the white only thought a few, quiet mind words.

"_The stallion wakes."_

Her name had only been whispered among their ranks. Nightmare the deceased had treasured her, and kept her away from the others. No one had been allowed to even look at her. She was the only living relative of Nightmare himself. Nightmare's younger sister.

A smirk appeared on the male dragon's lips. _It is amazing how such a beautiful angel could be related to that ugly devil. They say the stallion has the same personality as the mare, but it is so hard to believe._

Aside from the white dragon, the same name rippled through the assembled, the very same word.

"Daystallion."

* * *

It was unsettling. Strange was the least way to put it. He hadn't really taken it all in until now, and it really seemed weird. Blade fiddled with his armored thumbs as he thought.

Nightmare was dead, wasn't he? He had been killed by Kirby and the star rod. Nightmare was over! But then why were the demon attacks continuing? Why were they out to 'finish off' one who was already dead? And why was the plot taking so long to move on?

It was just too confusing. Was the star rod not enough? He had heard somewhere that as long as pain and fear existed, Nightmare would exist. But if that was true, what was the point in trying? He would always exist, because you cannot get rid of emotions. So how was he still alive? What was reviving him? What had they done wrong before?

Whatever it was, he couldn't let it happen this time. And for some reason, he felt serious for once. Maybe it was because he hadn't gotten Sword to trim his bright red hair for awhile and it was too long_. Yes, that had to be it._ He quickly made a mental note to get Sword to cut his hair. Although, last time she had, she had almost cleaved his head from his shoulders.

That's the problem with Sword. She cuts hair with her sword. She says it thrills her. Blade thinks she does it just so she can listen to her patient's screams of agony when she by accident drives her sword into their head or cuts their skin. Just for the kicks. That is why he not only admires her as an older sister (although they have never been sure if they were or not) but also fears her like no other.

Sometimes, she can be worse than a demon.

His helm was off and on the ground in his room. He was staring at his reflection in a mirror to the side of his single bed. His eyes flickered to the other side of the room where a matching bed lay neatly made. Then he looked at his reflection again. His long red hair was past his shoulders and down his back a ways. It was perfectly straight.

His eyes were a pure, striking green just like Sword's. Deftly one hand moved up to a scar along the side of his head where Sword had accidentally sliced him. He looked down at his foot which was bandaged. The venom had not reached his bloodstream. Sword had narrowly saved his life… again. Even if they weren't brother and sister really, they were still closer than friends and defiantly not romantically involved.

Sword came into their shared room. Slowly she acknowledged Blade and walked over next to him. She was grinning. Luckily, she had not broken a single rib and had only a bunch of bruises, and the venom had not gotten into her bloodstream either.

"Someone's hair looks long,~" Her grin widened wickedly.

"Uh, ah, er… um… hi… Sword…" he paused, fearing for his life, "G-glad to see you're o-okay…"

"Thank you!" She smiled warmly, but before he could relax she continued, "It was a long day, I'll cut your hair tomorrow. Sound good?"

"Yes!" Blade cried out in joy.

Sword reached up and undid her helm. Slipping it from her head, she felt her own, blonde hair be released.

She looked at him.

"Hey Blade, I've got a question."

He looked at her, "Yeah?"

"Do you think there are more Shadou? I mean, one is enough. We could be heading to our dooms! Not even Kirby can kill a Shadou." She pondered worriedly.

"I… I don't know." He waited a moment, "Sword, the thing I'm worrying about isn't Shadou."

She looked at him questioningly, "Huh?"

"I'm worried about Nightmare. Is he really back? Or is this some kind of trick… and if he is back then what did we do wrong? How will one more try do anything?"

Sword looked away, "I don't want to think about that. Meta Knight knows what he is doing. He… he always has."

* * *

Sorry about this being such a unbearably short chapter for so long of a wait, but I'm going to be leaving for a week and wanted to give you all _something _before I go. I must say I am not exactly happy with this chapter, as I was rushed while doing it. I may go and redo it once I come back because this is a very important chapter for more than the obvious reasons.

And yes I know Daystallion was not the best name, but I love playing around with opposites. And yes I also know that Daydream would be a closer-to-opposite-of-nightmare name. I decided to have stallion-mare for a reason. And yes I am being a jerk here by taunting you all with these small hangers.

Also, I never really liked that forth wall very much ^.^'

Read and review please! I love comments so much! :D

And please visit the poll on my profile! I need help on how to improve this FF!


	26. Why Am I Not Surprised?

Back from vacation! In case you didn't see it on my last update, I have a poll on my profile I _**need **_people to vote on. Please drop by it and put in your feelings! Every vote will affect how I'll write the rest of this.

* * *

It was, of course, Bun who caused havoc to arise in the Halberd. Again. Why did this happen? Well, because Bun likes pillows. Yes, pillows. And pillows… like havoc. Just like Bun. So pillows and Bun seems to go well together. But when two havoc liking organisms come together, the outcome would be anything but pretty.

The first victim was Fumu. Poor girl, she had an exciting life I guess. A tragic fate, to end at the hands of her own brother wielding a pillow.

"Hey Fumu," Bun greeted, hands behind his back as if hiding something as he came across his older sister while traveling the silver halls.

"Yeah?" she looked at her brother suspiciously.

"Come to my room, I have to talk to you about important stuff," he coaxed, only making his wary sister more wary.

"What is it?" She growled, prodding deeper.

"Important stuff!" the boy whined.

So that was how she ended up trapped in her brother's room while he pelted her with his pillow.

"Stop it right-," she was cut off as his pillow slammed into her mouth, silencing her.

"Haha!" he laughed before her hands reached up and gripped the pillow with threatening force. In one motion she yanked it from his fingers.

"Hey!" He yelped as he realized he was disarmed. Quickly he leapt to the side, narrowly missing her sister's brutal swipe. Sliding, he managed to get a hold of another pillow from his bed.

His sister came at him right away, attempting to cut him over his head with her weapon, and he only narrowly blocked it. Unable to get any offense in, Bun was forced to defend. The force of her blows was enough to tire the boy, and before long he was breathing heavily. Quickly, he blocked another of her assaults before diving for the door.

Fumbling with the door's opening systems; he only just got it open when he was socked across his head, causing him to fall to the ground head first.

"Ow~" He groaned, eyes shut before rolling over and whipping her ankles.

And that was when Sword trotted down the hallway upon the strange scene. She was puzzled at their strange ways. It actually… kind of reminded her of herself and Blade. And that was when Bun was disarmed, his pillow flying across the hallways and smacking right into Sword's masked face.

"…" A silence swept over all three.

"Erm…" Sword stood still as the pillow dropped into her gloved hands. Slowly her eyes moved from staring at the two children to the pillow which she held in her hands.

She grinned wickedly. Hey, why not?

* * *

So, chaos ensued. Pillows flew like heck around the hallway, Sword's mighty thrusts catching the others off guard. It wasn't long, with the shrill screams and laughter, that others were attracted to the commotion like flies to honey.

Blade stumbled in, Kawasaki too, even Dedede and Escargon. Kirby found his way there on his usual perch; Wolfwrath's head. With Waddle Doo and his two units joining, the small, sibling pillow fight turned into an all out fight for their lives. With pillows.

It was a disappointment that Meta Knight didn't come into the game, but it was reasonable seeing as they were flying through uncharted, enemy territory and they really needed a sane person to be driving the halberd, if not then they risked discovery by Nightmare's units and ultimately being annihilated.

And the strange new ways of Nightmare's ships was confusing, even to the prince of demons. They had just suddenly… changed. More work had been put into them, perhaps? Or maybe the way they moved or patrolled, it was just different.

Change in the enemy was the last thing they needed. With one ship going against an army, they really needed just a plain view of the enemy's tactics and defenses. Not like they were depending on fate gifting them mercy as it did the first time, it was just a bit of hopeful thinking. Hopeful thinking…

Okay what am I saying; they were putting their lives on this bit of 'hopeful thinking'.

Great.

Putting that aside, nearing Nightmare's base without being detected was impossible. The scout numbers were increasing, and then there was always that small complication…

They had been attacked before. Twice. Of course they had been spotted.

So then… why? Why weren't they attacking? What was wrong? Was it a trap?

That was what Meta Knight was puzzling over as he operated the immense Halberd. And as he took on the stress and weight of the lives of all on his ship, the others were engaged in a pillow fight. Yeah.

Seems kinda pathetic, doesn't it…

Almost like a lure, as if they wanted them to come. So if it was a trap, what could they do? No matter what, they'd still have to confront it if they wanted to end this.

Meta Knight growled in frustration, sometimes making all the decisions was a heart wrenching burden, especially when no one offers help or their input. Being the leader is not just fun and games… it's harder than so many understand it to be. We aren't always right, and we don't always know.

And he had to know.

At time like these, you just have to go for it and suffer the consequences. Leaders aren't always right. Deal with it. The best he could do was pray that he wasn't sending the Halberd and all those on her to their dooms.

Considering how many controls he must have had his eyes on, it was reasonable that he didn't see the asteroid belt coming up until the Halberd had gotten dangerously close. It really didn't help that everyone else was in a pillow fight and he was alone to try and get the Halberd out of this mess.

The gravity emitting from a huge rock had already claimed the Halberd by the time he started to turn her, so it was obvious that circumventing the belt's plans for her was impossible. The ship was either going to be damaged severely or destroyed completely. Both outcomes looked bleak and both were things they really couldn't afford.

Working wildly on the controls, Meta Knight just managed to avoid a monstrous asteroid when a large barricade of smaller rocks pelted the Halberd's surface. The shields were up in seconds, holding off the boulders. But considering the lack of rest, the Halberd did not have enough fuel or power to keep them off for long.

The pillow fight broke up when a large jerk shuddered through the whole battleship and a crack as who knows what snapped. Sword and Blade, along with Siliver were at the control room in seconds and took their places. They didn't need Meta Knight to inform them to know what was going on and that they were in immense danger.

It was obvious the normal shields would not last more than five minutes, if not less. The belt was thick and with huge boulders, triple the size of the Halberd, being hurtled at them it was clear they would need much more time. And much better defense.

The Aritic shields were forced into play. The electric charged barrier incinerated a path through the mass of spinning rock. But even those soon tired and went out, leaving the Halberd vulnerable. The resounding shocks of impact on the powerful steel of the Halberd's hull were like an earthquake, and the damage could only be imagined.

Weapons were even used to burn off some of the asteroids, melting them before they could hit. It seemed so vain, but yet every one they managed to hit off was a huge relief on the great battleship and each one made a large difference. It was more than a miracle that they managed to pass through at all, even with the damage they had received.

And damage it was. One of the great wings of the Halberd was broken in half. Flames erupted in the hallways and an explosion was heard as fire met valuable fuel. With smoke clouds beginning to foul the air, the outcome was looking anything but good.

They were fatally damaged in the middle of enemy territory. And to make matters worse, panic was pulsing through the inhabitants of the battleship. Panicked, scared, and isolated from one another, those not in the control room were immediately in grave danger.

Siliver quickly worked the intercom.

"Do not panic! Everyone - oh screw formality - GET TO THE DAMN CONTROL ROOM NOW!" She roared.

But it wasn't so easy.

* * *

Fumu stumbled, coughing and choking on thick smoke. It stung her eyes so badly she could barely see. What she could see was a blur of grey and small particles of what might have been part of the ship now reduced to ash. Her heart was racing as she tried to pry herself to her feet, clawing at the closest wall for support.

The smoke she was breathing in was dry and suffocating. All she could do to keep from inhaling venomous air was cover her mouth with the very top of her shirt. It was less than good protection and before long she started to feel dizzy. This time when she inhaled all she got was more suffocating gas.

The panic in her grew overwhelming. Never had she been this scared. Never. She couldn't breathe. Whenever she took a breath all she got was polluted fumes. She couldn't see. The hot air was too much for her already glassy vision and her eyes were forced to stay shut.

She couldn't even stand. When she tried, her feet gave way beneath her and she would collapse to the ground. It was like a ring of flames had formed around her waist, crushing her lungs. Pain seared through her veins, but she couldn't even scream. She didn't have the air too. A fog began to cloud her mind and she felt her consciousness slipping.

Sleep… it sounded so peaceful to her now. All she had to do is let go, and she would be free from the pain. Free…

She felt a sharp pain as something prickly closed around her neck and hoisted her into the air. She was thrown, airborne for a moment before landing on something soft and furry. If she had air she would have gasped, but all she could do before her mind slipped away was weakly grasp at the long, soft fur.

* * *

Good thing about being born from the flames of hell; fire doesn't hurt you. And, she could breathe smoke as easily as air. So Wolfwrath found herself bounding into the smoke and gas to rescue those still suck in the dangerous hallways. She had gotten Fumu, Bun, Dedede, Waddle Doo and Escargon to safety. Kawasaki had been able to get through by himself. Siliver, Sword and Blade with Meta Knight had already been in the control room so they were fine.

But that wasn't everyone. Kirby, Tokkori, and the two Waddle Dees were still missing. Truthfully, the only reason Wolfwrath cared about the green feather ball was because he might serve a wimpy snack at some point, but the others she needed to find. And fast. The Halberd was burning, the emergency water supply had been sabotaged and the sprinklers weren't working.

They needed Kirby. Without the pink ball they were doomed. She could care less for the waddle dees, but Waddle Doo would never forgive her if she just let them die.

Time was of the essence.

* * *

_Fire. Fire and smoke. Lots of it. Can't see… alone… the captain went ahead… hope he's okay… _

A waddle dee stumbled along; feeling around him for something that could help him find the control room, but nothing could be found. Terrified of being left behind, the little guy started to panic and ran around in circles, stubby arms flailing in the air.

He paused and rubbed his eyes, clearing his vision enough to see a bit. Waddle dees were highly resistant to smoke or any other thing that could block vision, and they didn't need to breathe anyways.

Two glowing, blood red orbs were right in front of the poor guy's face. Scared out of his wits, he jumped backwards and peered closer at what he had seen.

A red eyed wild dog stood before the poor, freaked out waddle dee. Its blotched coat was a muddy brown speckled with black patches and yellow dots. Its huge ears perked forwards and mouth frothing. It growled low down in its throat as it advanced on the waddle dee, strangely unaffected by the smoke and flames.

If the waddle dee hadn't known better and smoke hadn't been blurring its eyes, he would have sworn that it was dripping black, coiling liquid.

Even stranger, it didn't have a nose.

* * *

Yeah, I'm still a jerk and am never gunna change. Ha! Cliffhanger! I'm begging you to review! Please! Not much else to say, really… and once more the chapter is short because I'm not feeling well and I was rushed while putting this together.

Yup. Excuses, excuses.

The pillow fight was a request by arisa33.

**Please visit the poll on my profile. Thank you all!**


	27. I Think This World Hates Halberds

Bet'cha weren't expecting this! I think I'm going to speed up my updating as an apology for all this slowness.

I've been forgetting the disclaimer, so from now on I'll just say look back to chapter so and so or something like that cuz it's driving me nuts lol

Well, not much else to say besides I love cats! Nope, I'm not random!

* * *

Kirby was confused, scared, and alone. He had been sleeping in his little closet when the grey stuff came. It made it hard to breathe, and it hurt his eyes. He didn't understand. He didn't understand where everyone had gone, nor did he understand why the grey stuff made his eyes water and sting, or why he was feeling weaker than normal.

He got to his feet and slowly moved out of the closet, immediately the grey stuff was worse. When he took a breath, all he got was the fog. It made him choke and cough even more than before. So overwhelmed was he that he didn't even take the loud warning over the intercom into account. He just wanted to cry and ran in the first direction he thought of.

It was the wrong way.

He ran deeper and deeper into the smoke, and he didn't understand that it _was _smoke. He didn't understand what made smoke, nor did he understand that smoke was venomous to the lungs. All he understood was something was making it hard to breathe, and nobody was around. It just made him panic more.

It got thicker and thicker, making him cry without him meaning to. He absolutely couldn't see, and so he just kept running blindly. He had to find the others. He had to. He needed to find Fumu. Fumu would make things right. She always did. Fumu…

It was getting hotter, too. And things that weren't in the hallway before were making it hard to run. He was tripping and stumbling over hot, strange shaped objects. One was so hot it hurt. It hurt badly. The pain was searing, and he knew it must have been a demon. Only demons could make such bad pain.

What would Fumu do if she came across a demon? She would tell him to inhale. Feeling proud, he took a deep breath in preparation.

It stung, it hurt so badly. The air he took in was burning air. But he faced it and began to inhale, like Fumu would want him to. The strange thing was that when he inhaled, he found nothing being forced into his mouth except more bad air and something else. He knew what that was. It was dangerous and hurts. Maybe that was what he had felt before, not a demon.

It was fire. So he was inhaling bad air and fire. He just continued to inhale, unsure of what else to do. It made him feel dizzy and even more tired than before. But when he stopped, he found not only could he open his eyes, so much less bad air there was, but that he copied the flame's ability.

His crown fit on his head, and burst into flames. Immediately the flames and bad air stopped affecting him. It was a relief beyond words. He could see, and the grey stuff was as pure as normal air. But it was strange that everything was getting blacker and smaller with the bad air and fire. The things in the hallway were pieces of the ceiling, and more were joining the others.

But worse, he didn't know where he was.

Where was Fumu? Where was Bun? Where was kitty and Dedede? And Escargon? Where was everybody? He didn't know… he didn't know…

Hot, flaming tears rolled down his cheeks. He cried and cried, he didn't know… nobody was there for him and he was scared… he was so, so scared…

Then it happened. A flash of magenta and a demon, no Wolfwrath, stood before him.

"_What are you doing, puffball? Get moving! The others are worrying for you. And, sadly for my prince, this place is going down!" _She swooped down and scooped him up in her jaws before taking off back where Kirby had come.

He lost his flame crown in seconds, so overcome with relief, and then the pain started to come back. The bad air was bad again and it hurt him. Breathing was hard, and the grey fog made his eyes sting and throb once more. He couldn't see, and that scared him, but Wolfwrath was there. Wolfwrath wasn't Fumu, but she was good enough. He should be okay now.

He was soon in the control room, where havoc was reigning.

* * *

He should have known. He should have known! It was right in front of him the whole time! T-R-A-P. They had practically spelled it out for him!

Meta Knight ranted at himself as realization hit him.

They had waited, like a great cat ready to pounce, until they had injured themselves in the asteroid belt. They had used all their means of defense and were literally sitting ducks. All Nightmare had to do was reap the rewards. They were ambushed by a party of Nightmare's new ships.

But at the same time, it was strange. This was defiantly not Nightmare's normal ways of strategy. Nightmare usually just threw himself at the enemy full force and annihilated them, his new ways were more... well… thought through? Planned out. Whatever new schemes Nightmare was coming up with, it was working better. And it was working well.

Luckily, everyone was found. Even the waddle dees and Tokkori. Kirby was brought in the control room a few moments before. He hadn't really been worried for the young star warrior; he always seemed to make it. The only real casualties from the fire were the loss of the Halberd, a few who were unconscious for a time, and one of the waddle dees had lost an eye. Now, they just had to escape.

His own fleet of ships in the hanger, or 'garage', would do fine. But, to get to them…

They were already being pelted with the attack of a device that utilizes the ability of some substances to absorb electromagnetic energy and re-radiate it as a highly focused beam of synchronized single-wavelength radiation (lasers), bombs, and probably being boarded. Great.

He was already in a bad mood from about the tenth time his Halberd was being blown up. (In this I'm pointing to the war, but just think about it. Kirby blows it up twice in one game, then in Hoshi no Kaabii, and quite a few more. What's wrong with this picture?) He didn't need everything else making in angry.

Mentally he was able to praise himself for not bringing anything of much value on the Halberd besides the Frosime jewels he held with him and the items needed to create the Halberd. How much has he wasted on these blasted warships, you might wonder? Really, don't ask. He doesn't need the extra depression…

It was fair that he put the burden of getting to the hanger on Sword and Blade.

"Yessir!" Sword and Blade said the two words so quickly as they saluted it slurred into one. They seemed excited to be able to do something of such… importance?

"Okay follow me." Sword instructed before Blade could, leaving him muttering colorful words under his breath.

And so the whole group followed the two knights-in-training into the hot, smoky maze that was once the Halberd's hallways. Every step into it was stabbing Meta Knight deeper, with a knife. But they didn't seem to notice.

They took the elevator. A bad choice. Meta Knight almost wanted to stop them, but idiots have to learn the hard way. For one, everyone had to cram themselves into the tiny room. For two, it was a case of emergency, fire. Fire. Elevator.

The only ones putting this together were Siliver and Meta Knight; everyone else seemed to think the two knights were brilliant. It was kind of disappointing when the doors closed and the elevator began to move down, screeched, shuddered, jerked down a few times, before tilting at a angle and going still. Once again; great.

Sword and Blade, who were a cause of this mess, were forced to cut a hole in the ceiling and get on top of the elevator. There, the two worked on the wires, metal bars, gears, and all this other stuff, trying to sort it out and utterly failing. After awhile the two got impatient with the whole Halberd slowly falling apart and all, and they simple hacked at everything around the elevator until it dropped down all too fast and crashed to the bottom.

The jolt was devastating and caused flames to burst out, all the more of a reason to get out of the small room. Luckily the garage was on the bottom floor so they had fallen to the right place. Quickly, Meta Knight led the group to the largest of all the ships, also a carrier.

It was huge, and once again a few of the assembled had to wonder how he could have fit it in the Halberd at all, considering such a small amount of the Halberd was used to harbor a whole fleet with this monster ship among them.

Sadly, it was only about the size of a one story house as the Halberd itself was the size of five mansions, but it would have to do. In shape it looked all too much like a miniature of the Halberd, except the front didn't have Meta Knight's mask design (surprisingly) and was pointed. It was large enough to carry up to three small fighting ships and still had a control center, storage room, and a few living chambers although defiantly not as luxurious as the Halberd's and also much fewer.

It was obviously an emergency, back up ship. It was named the Scythe. (I see a naming scheme.) They had very little time to pick out three other ships to take, so it was mostly at random. Siliver's own black jet was to be taken, along with two other jets. One was a sterling silver and the other a navy blue. Quickly they were moved onto the ship, and they boarded.

Just in time, as flames leapt into the garage and a huge chunk of the ceiling collapsed, crushing a handful of small ships in the corner, making Meta Knight visibly wince.

The inside was completely black, as the outside of it was. The style of the hallways, rooms, and controls were mimicking that of the Halberd's if not much smaller. Quickly Meta Knight opened the hanger, and they made their escape. Using the dark, cold space as cover they got away without being noticed. A good side about having a black ship instead of silver.

Sword and Blade operated the controls with Siliver as Meta Knight mournfully watched the Halberd become smaller and smaller, turning away as it burst into flames, crumbling before exploding completely, for he was unable to watch.

War hurts.

He turned towards the positive sides of this. They think we're dead. Unless they spotted the Scythe as it retreated, then they think they destroyed the Halberd and took all of them with it. For once, Meta Knight and the others held the upper hand. They had the unit of surprise on their hand for once.

One, grand other thing was that the Scythe had the unique ability to turn invisible for long periods of time. And it was fast. All of that just added to the stealthy, new tactic they held on their side.

Now it was time to turn to injuries. They would remain hidden for a small amount of time just until everyone was nursed back to full health, then they would finish this and move on with this damn slow plot!

Burns were most of it. Siliver was burned only on the very tip of her tail, which was quickly taken care of with cool water and a few clean bandages. Fumu had only hurt her lungs, and so she just needed to rest and let that heal. Tokkori had lost a handful of feathers, but that was minor. Everyone else just needed rest.

The waddle dee that lost an eye would seem like the worst of everything, but it was actually very minor. No wounds could be found associated with the lost eye, and the place itself was not infected, it didn't even bleed. So he was fine, even though Waddle Doo was very concerned.

The only thing that could really hurt was the loss of probably one of the greatest warships ever to fly the galaxy. Although, Meta Knight could be rather persistent and the odds point to him just building it again.

* * *

Confusion was the least thing that arose when they were attacked by one of Nightmare's ships only a few hours later. It was destroyed before it could board the Scythe, but that wasn't what worried those onboard.

It didn't make sense. They had gotten away from the Halberd without being noticed, that was obvious. They had the ability to turn invisible. They were the very element of surprise in mortal form. With speed, agility, and stealth how could anything have gone wrong? It was impossible.

Sure they were very close to Nightmare now. Sure they were almost in sight of the great fortress they had been searching for. Sure it was just one ship…

But that wasn't what concerned them. There was only one possible explanation which sent distrust through their ranks. Between those who had been allies seconds before.

There was a traitor onboard the Scythe.

* * *

Yup! I think we all share the same need to blow up the Halberd sooner or later, right? And I really do apologize for not only being slow to update… but having such a damn slow plot!

And please remember to **look at the pole on my profile!**

So far I have two votes, both I am putting into high consideration. I have one vote in the form of a review as well.

Please review! :D


	28. King of Demonbeasts

I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT! Please look at the bottom of the page for a better explanation!

Disclaimer is the same.

* * *

No one could be trusted. Suddenly that man you befriended to the day before could be crouching in the shadows, waiting to strike and kill you but you don't have any idea. Thoughts swarmed the minds of all those on the Scythe; who is the traitor among us? Will we find the right one? Or will be imprisoning an ally? Or… am I the traitor?

The accusing fingers all pointed to the most likely one. Dedede and Escargon were ruled out quickly, for luckily they held big enough grudges on Nightmare that they shouldn't turn against them. Waddle Doo and his Waddle Dees probably would not have the mind capabilities to even understand being a traitor.

Sword and Blade were tested, Bun being able to quiz them on… embarrassing… things that only the real deals would know. Bun and Fumu then tested each other and they were decided to be fine. Meta Knight, being their leader at the time, was immediately free of any suspicions. Kirby was obviously not the traitor, either.

Kawasaki's cooking still tasted inedible. Wolfwrath was still enslaved by Meta Knight and after he sorted through her mind, it was obvious she was not a threat. Tokkori, who had - sadly – survived, was most likely not the offender.

One remained.

Siliver was accused of turncoat.

It is a sad job, taking one who you have fought beside in the heat of battle, one who had shed blood to your cause, to a dungeon. Sword and Blade had to take the unresisting leopardess to where she would do no harm, but sadly those on board could not move themselves to end her life.

Everything was going according to plan.

Daystallion grinned, showing two long, white fangs. She was holding her amber crystal and peering into its depths where the face of the traitor looked back at her.

"Make sure there are no suspicions." She growled, and the face nodded vigorously. No one dared provoke the stallion's wrath.

Satisfied, the mighty demoness placed the amber back on its pedestal. She then turned back around to view her creation in progress.

Its body was round and small, a bright magenta pink, with eyes tightly shut. Its arms were short, and it had no legs, only two oval feet. Crowning its head were two golden horns which reminded the stallion of herself. Mounting the creature's back were two, delicate, pearl white and feathery wings. They reminded her of an angel. The peaceful form rested in blue liquid, machines surrounded it each with a different purpose.

A large metallic demon was watching the screens rapidly. Its long tentacles reached out and checked a few things on a few of the machines before returning by the monstrous beasts sides. Once and awhile it would look up at Daystallion worriedly before going back to its work.

It seemed silly, how such a large beast could be so genuinely afraid of a being less than a twelfth its size. Daystallion peered at the monstrous demon.

"Its status?" she growled.

"Blood pressure is average; heart rate steady, bodily cells stay compressed, thought capacity is small-" It began to recite nervously.

"Small?" she asked sweetly, "Did you say small?"

"Y-yes…"

"My brother would _not _accept _small." _She snarled dangerously, "Do you know what happens when you disobey _me?" _

"Y-yes, ma'am…" It stuttered, "B-but I thought you wouldn't want it to be like the prince-"

"The _prince_ is no more!" she eyed her servant with distaste, "the _king _will soon rise."

"K-king?" the creature's eyes widened, "B-but I thought it was a sh-she…"

"A _she?" _Daystallion's own eyes widened, "One failure was disgusting, but two? And such a terrible mistake as gender?"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" It pleaded, throwing itself upon the floor, "I'll do everything right! I'll never make a mistake again, I…,"

As it spoke, Daystallion's hand slowly rose until it was pointing directly at the giant. Pure energy coursed through her fingers, leaping and crackling, trying to get loose upon the demon. Its eyes bulged in fear as its pleadings doubled in speed.

She twitched her pointer finger which sent torrents of invisible electricity streaking at the beast. They skimmed the demon's skin, slicing through its thick metallic scale like a knife through butter and sending thick, sticky demonic blood splattering into the air. Its agonizing screams thundered through the hallways as the energy played with it.

A small shard of the electricity shot right through the demon's stomach, cutting a bloody hole through its inner defenses. The stomach acids shrieked in joy as they escaped their confinement, eating away at the beast's innards. Its blood streamed down its flanks, pooling on the floor in great lakes.

"I hate weaklings." Daystallion grimaced as she recalled her electric minions, allowing the demon to have a slow, painful death by its own stomach acids.

* * *

Siliver sat in her dungeon. _Meta Knight better still pay me. _She was kinda bored. She switched positions in her cell.

"Are you really a traitor?" Bun asked, startling her out of her wits.

"No." She answered deftly, smoothing down her fur.

"Come on, you can tell me the truth; how much did they get you with?" He continued curiously.

"I said no." She repeated.

"Then who is the traitor?" He pried deeper.

"How the hell should I know?" She groaned.

"Well, I was thinking that if you were the traitor then you would know who the actual traitor is cuz you know... you'd know this kinda stuff."

"I said I am n-o-t a bloody traitor!" She roared in agony from the idiot who was driving her crazy.

"Who said you were bloody?" He asked just to be annoying.

* * *

Meta Knight was satisfied when no more ships attacked them as they used their invisibility shields. They were only a few thousand miles from the place the last sighting of the demon base was. At the speed they were going, they could make it by Popstar's daybreak. Everyone else was just getting to sleep now, except for Bun who was too involved with annoying the poor leopardess to death.

Meta Knight had noticed the increase dramatically in patrols. There was another thing. Meta Knight felt, always, that he was being watched. Sometimes he caught a flash of orange, but it always disappeared too quickly for him to figure out who, or what, it was.

He had been having rather disturbing dreams the past few nights. None of them could be called nightmares, but they were disturbing, nevertheless. In each dream it would always be blindingly light and warm, he would even wake up with a higher-than-normal body temperature. Then there would be a herd of horses, running together; wild ones, without reins or a saddle binding them down.

The leader of the horses was a muscular palomino stallion. Its speed was unmatched among the others, like the wind it would skim over the long blades of grass, almost flying. Suddenly, the palomino was alone. It skidded to a stop in the wide field, clear blue eyes looking rapidly around it, searching for the herd.

It looked panicked, deeply afraid. But when its fear was getting too great, a smaller, black mare mustang that had not been with the others slowly trotted to its side. It whinnied softly, soothingly to the stallion and led it back to the herd. It was obvious the two were siblings.

Then the two horses, the stallion and mare, morphed confusingly into crystals. The mare became a dark sapphire, and the stallion an amber jewel. Slowly the sapphire crumbled away into dust, and it showed the stallion alone with the herd.

The stallion looked confused, lost, by not having his sibling near him to comfort him. In panic, it harmed those around it, nostrils flaring with inner fire. To help himself, he caused pain on the area around him, making others suffer so they knew the pain he was going through.

When everything was gone and he was alone, he collapsed onto the ground and wept. Vaguely in the background one could almost make out a pale, ghostly woman. She was on her knees, hands covering her face as she silently sobbed.

He didn't know it, but the story the dream had told was dreadfully close to the truth.

* * *

Two, blood red eyes opened. It was surrounded by glass and blue liquid.

For a moment, all the being knew was those two things before he jolted, twitching. Feeling washed over his body and he suddenly became aware of fingers. He clenched and unclenched his fists. He tried to move more, but found himself unable to do so. Something was on his face, also his body, which was pumping some moving substance over his mouth. For a moment he didn't know what to do, but he realized in time how to breathe.

Taking his first breath, filling his lungs completely with warm, soft air, and exhaling, was the best feeling he had had since he gained life. He did it over and over, seemingly fascinated by it. He blinked a few times before trying desperately to see past the thick glass which surrounded him and the liquid. Vaguely he could see moving shapes and shades, but nothing else.

Something on his back itched, but when he tried to move his hands he found something was keeping him from doing so. And so it was that he made his first sound; a growl. After struggling against his bonds for a bit he found it was impossible to get to the itch.

And so he found his wings. Each one was about double the size of his body. He opened and shut them a few times experimentally. After a bit he got bored of those simple things and began to stare at the moving shapes, trying to figure out what they were. After a while he gave up and shut his blood red eyes in defeat.

He was startled when, with his eyes shut, he suddenly felt heat signals form from his body and felt as though he could see without his eyes. Except, he could see better this way. The heat signals told him that great beings were outside his glass containment. They were moving to and fro as if panicked, or excited.

His heat senses went over when he found a different being. It was further away, but the heat signals started going haywire, so either it was huge or it had abnormal and immense body heat.

He opened his eyes again, struggling with all his might to get a glance at whatever could be that giant. But his eyes could not see any gigantic beast, not even a shade of one. Confused, he shut his eyes again. The heat signals from the giant were still there.

That was when the glass surrounding him, and his bindings, fell away. Steam filled the room he was in, and his eyes scanned the fog, searching for the creatures his heat had detected.

Everything which had been moving rapidly had froze. They were all large, metallic beasts with long tentacles and fat feet. They were quite ugly. Only then did he realize that the liquid no longer surrounded him, and for the first time his soft skin touched the air. It was cold, and he shivered. His long feathery wings curled around him, warming himself.

A woman walked towards him. She wore and graceful white gown which seemed to flow around her, as did her warmly colored, long hair. Her skin was pale and her eyes were a crystal blue. He shut his eyes and realized the small, thin being walking towards him was the source of all the incredible heat.

Even if she was small, she was taller than he was. She looked down at him and smiled warmly, making the small creature feel good and joyous inside.

"Welcome, Galacta Knight."

* * *

Listen everyone… I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT! What was it, a month? Lemmi explain…

My computer caught a virus. It completely abolished everything on my computer so I had to send it away to get fixed. They said it would take about a month, but after I dropped by and convinced them otherwise, I got it in around a week. Then I went to putting everything back on and such. It took a few days.

One of the last things I put in was my Microsoft word installation disk. Little did I know the virus had imprinted itself on the disk which had been in my computer; the Microsoft word. Soo I got the virus again! Yay!

That time it took 2 weeks.

Then we had to order a new Microsoft word disk. About half a week, and then I had to rewrite the chappy. So sorry for all of this, I'll try to be good and update faster now. ^.^'


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